Loebsack visits Iowa Shrimp Farms

            When U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack (D) heard about a shrimp farming business in his congressional district, he admittedly couldn’t believe it and had arrangements made to travel to Sigourney on Friday, March 9 to see for himself.

“When you’re a Congressman and you have 24 counties, there are a lot of places you can go and visit,” Loebsack said. “You normally don’t think of a shrimp farm in Iowa, so I was intrigued by the idea and really wanted to come here. I learned a lot about this business what these folks are doing.”

The Iowa Shrimp Farm, located in Sigourney at Sedna Warehousing, was happy to welcome the congressman to their business, greeting him and District Representative Brianna Dennison with a shrimp boil and burgers before showcasing their unique system. Created by Marc Bretz and Bill Thomasson of Sedna Warehousing and their partner Craig Meacham, The Iowa Shrimp Farm features four tanks within a climate-controlled section of the warehouse, with the shrimp moving down from tank to tank as they mature rapidly. Loebsack was shown how the system operated and was even able to catch a few shrimp himself in the bottom tank.

“Just to hear their story-why they got into this business in the first place, how they built these tanks-it really is a testament to Iowa ingenuity and entrepreneurism,” Loebsack said. “If you can raise shrimp in Iowa, you can do just about anything as far as I’m concerned.”

Please view the March 14 edition of The News-Review for the full story.