Montana Shrimp Company offers protein-rich food source

What we are about

Montana Fresh Shrimp Company is working to grow and sell fresh marine shrimp to a local market. Our intent is to offer, in a sustainable way of growing, one of the highest-protein sea foods that is local, fresh, GMO-free and heavy-metal free, using organic growing methods. We are changing the food supply one ingredient at a time. We believe in the local farmers market slogan "Know your local farmer"  

 

We have a crew of over 12 people working tirelessly on construction, marketing, accounting, social media and website as well as an aquaculture science consultant team and a microbiologist. 

We have been working diligently on our facility.  Building walls, painting, sealing the floors with a slip-proof water resistant epoxy have turned our facility into a healthy place for the shrimp to grow in a good environment and create a safe place for our shrimp wranglers to work.  

The first two sets of beta tanks are built and lined with a special marine liner.  The beta tanks hold about 8300 gallons of water, per four tank set.  Phase two will include installing fiberglass tanks more than twice that size at about 18000 gallons.

How are we different from other shrimp farming operations? We are working to grow shrimp that have a higher nutrition content than the average shrimp. This is due to our unique method of feeding which includes two types of algae one being spirulina. The algaes make the shrimp higher in omega 3's and keep the water clean. Our method of feeding them also increases their protein content as well as adds astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant that aids in fighting cancer, macular degeneration, fighting dementia, enhanced athletic performance, and fights the aging process.  

We will also have the ability to remove the iodine normally found in shrimp, which will be beneficial for those with some seafood sensitivities and allergies.

We will be donating part of our shrimp harvest to local food banks, and other organizations who help low income and homeless citizens.  We will also be donating a portion of our sales to local organizations to help them in their efforts to help people who need it.

What We Need & What You Get

 

We are already well underway but, we need help with some key items to get the first babies in the tanks. 

  • oxygenation bubblers 
  • high quality feed for the shrimp
  • heaters to keep the shrimp warm during our long Montana winters
  • plumbing
Your contribution will help create a much needed clean food source for the country.  90% of the shrimp we eat come from foreign countries, some having been treated with antibiotics and fed with questionable feed sources. We are working hard to change that and reclaim a healthy, high protein food source for generations to come. We have a dedicated team working tirelessly to get us up and running with our first set of tanks growing shrimp.  We are starting from scratch and need the help of the crowd to succeed in providing a clean food source. 
We have some amazing perks for this first phase of our farm. Our team thought hard about what would be the best things to offer our generous contributors. Our first harvest is not until May 2016 so we had to get creative. We hope you love them as much as we do. On top of these perks we are investing in a camera for a live feed of the shrimp farming process that everyone will be able to access 24/7!
$5:
  • Shout out!  We will mention your name on the website donor list as well as a shout out on our Facebook and Twitter.
$10:
  •  A copy of our ebook written in house which includes recipes, shrimp"toids" , sustainable farming facts and more, and a shout out
OR
  • A high quality bumper sticker and a shout out.
$25:
  • Full color Shrimp Can Koozie, sticker, and a shout out.
$50:
  • Montana Fresh Shrimp reusable bag, sticker and a shout out
$125:
  • Montana Fresh Shrimp Organic cotton T-shirt, sticker, and a shout out.
$250:
  • Reward package: A Montana Fresh Shrimp Organic t-shirt, bag, Koozie, a sticker and a shout out.
$500:
  • Donate $500 and you get 5 pounds of shrimp from our very first harvest in May 2016, plus an apron, sticker, the recipe ebook and a shout out.
$1000:
  • 20 pounds of shrimp from our first harvest for your to host your very own shrimp boil! Harvest in May 2016 Montana Fresh Shrimp apron, sticker, the recipe ebook, and shout out.
$5000:
  • Adopt a tank! For a generous $5000 donation you get to name a shrimp tank anything you want.  Tanks will all have a brass plaque with the chosen name on it.  You will also get the 20 pounds of shrimp for the shrimp boil, an apron or t-shirt, sticker, ebook, and a shout out.

The Impact

Generous contributions from our local community have helped us get to the current stage of construction.  We are reaching out even further for our next phases of our farm:

  • Not only are we providing a healthy and clean food source to the local community. We are donating 1% of our overall monthly profits to a local charity. We will also be donating shrimp to local charities that feed low income families and local homeless populations.  
  • Our system allows us to grow more shrimp per square foot than other systems commonly used.  If we are successful in our start up we hope to change the way shrimp is farmed to provide a higher quality food to more people.  
  • We are using sustainable and organic farming practices on our shrimp farm using a feed that provides them with probiotics and organic feed. Doing this is healthy for the overall global aquaculture ecosystem.
  • Several local contributors have generously donated to get this farm project launched.  We have been hard at work using their generous donations to maintain the facility, build tanks and hire professional scientific consultants including an aquaponic engineer and a microbiologist.
Risks & Challenges

The biggest risk in shrimp farming is the risk of disease in the population.  EMS(Early Mortality Syndrome) is one of many known diseases in in the shrimp farming industry in China, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. 

Due to our method of farming we have ultimate control over the ecosystem in our tanks which will be tested periodically.  This greatly reduces EMS.

Our processing room is a few short yards away from our tanks. Once the shrimp are harvested they will be packaged immediately in a BPA-free food-grade package and sent out to you our customers, for consumption.

Lastly there is the concern of the use of antibiotics in shrimp farming.  Due to our feeding system and constant monitoring there is no need for the use of antibiotics to fight disease. The shrimp's digestive tract and environment will be strong and healthy enabling them to resist disease on their own.

Other Ways You Can Help

Can't contribute financially but want to help us get the word out? We can still use your help with a few things:

  • Word of mouth is a huge help!  Just sharing our story and our crowdfunding will make a difference.  Tell your friends on social media, twitter, facebook, or over email.  Use the share tools on the far left to shout out our message on the web! We can use all the help we can get to get up and running at 100%.
  • We would love the help of a branding company to get our brand, logo and image set in stone.  We understand that this is a huge part of the success of a company but we need help getting our image perfected.  If you can help us with this aspect of the business would love to hear from you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to check out our campaign!  Follow us on our adventure by checking back here, on our website or social media pages.


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