Courtesy Triple J Farms
Seasoned, grilled, head-on shrimp from Triple J Farms
Jeff Howell may be to the aquaculture industry what Han Solo was to the rebellion: a tenacious, well-cloaked hero.
Courtesy Triple J Farms
Tenacious because, despite a steep learning curve that resulted in some unfortunate product (and profit) loss, he and his family have managed to successfully run Triple J Farms in Foristell since 2016. Cloaked because selling to the general public by word of mouth and still having a two-month waiting list—all within the confines of a traditional farm with gravel roads, soybean fields, and old barns—is about as under-the-radar as it gets.
Of course, there’s also that tiny part about being thousands of miles from the nearest ocean. And how Howell used to be in finance before transitioning to shrimping. His brother Jason is a civil engineer. Dave, their dad, and James, the youngest brother, work with the family owned excavation business and the brothers got their start in agriculture on the family farm in Defiance.
For the Howells, traditional farming has always been the family business. No one knew what the kelp they were doing when it came to shrimp farming, which is where the hero part comes in.
Not only does the farm not use antibiotics, hormones, or chemicals, but it also recycles the salt water used to grow Pacific white shrimp, adding heterotrophic bacteria that eat the waste caused by the shrimp, resulting in almost zero water waste in production. That’s heroic compared to the practices employed by some shrimp farmers in other countries.
Local and U.S. Wild Caught vs. Internationally Farmed
Most shrimp aquaculture happens in Southeast Asia, South America, and India, and 90 percent of U.S. shrimp is imported. There is no FDA regulation abroad and very little oversight in general, given the sheer number of farms that exist. According to nonprofit Oceana, the global shrimping economy is rife with human trafficking, environmental destruction, and the use of antibiotics for what are often sick or diseased shrimp. Search for “factory farmed shrimp” online, and you’ll see the darker side of an industry that many never knew existed.
For more information on sustainable seafood, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch consumer guides makes it easier to track where your seafood comes from, and Whole Foods has been recognized by Greenpeace for its practices in using sustainable seafood sources.
In addition to supporting local farms, such as Triple J Farms or Clearwater Shrimp Farm in Neosho, customers are more likely to find sustainable options by purchasing wild caught shrimp from the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean. Such St. Louis spots as Bob’s Seafood, Peacemaker Lobster & Crab, and Starr’s get their shrimp from the Gulf Coast, and in the early days, Bob Mepham would drive to the Gulf himself each week to bring fresh shrimp and seafood back to St. Louis.
Growing Shrimp in a Barn
Those who are lucky enough to score a spot on Triple J’s waiting list won’t have to worry about the source of their shrimp, but there might still be a bit of head-scratching about how shrimp are grown in a barn in Missouri—and how a finance guy learned to be a shrimp guy.
When they started the farm five years ago, the Howell family got their first shrimp from a farm in Indiana. Early on, Howell discovered that municipal water from the city is detrimental to the shrimp, so only well water can be used. Over time, he says, the farm has come into its own, and the family has learned more about sourcing.
Courtesy Triple J Farms
“We get 10-day old shrimp shipped to us from a hatchery out of Palm Beach, Florida, which offers an improved genetic strand of shrimp that gets up to market size in about 60 days,” he says. “We receive about 30,000 shrimp each month from the hatchery, and raise them in our nursery for 18 days. Then they’re moved to their grow-out tanks, where the survivability rate is about 85–90 percent. We started with eight pools, and now we have 14 pools and two nursery tanks. Everything is climate-controlled, and we monitor things closely and do a ton of tests on every tank every day.”
All of the trials and tribulations that the Howell family endured to get their shrimp into consumers’ hands is well worth it, in Howell's opinion. “We’re doing something different with aquaculture, something unique and original,” he says. “And it’s something we can sell.”
Courtesy Triple J Farms
Courtesy Triple J Farms
But what about the taste? “When you taste a fresh head-on shrimp from our farm, you’re like, ‘Dang, I’ve been eating crap for a long time,’” Howell says with a laugh. “It’s so different than the frozen stuff. There’s an incredible meaty texture and sweetness to it. It’s like when you bite into an apple right off the tree. You know you’ve got something really good. That’s how I feel about our shrimp.”
Apparently, he isn’t the only one. Of the 4,000–5,000 pounds of shrimp per year that Triple J sells, the wait list is already between 400 and 500 pounds deep. Howell says it’s first come, first served, so everyone gets a fair shot. (To get on Triple J Farms’ wait list—which includes shrimp rolls, surf n’ turf, shrimp boil, shrimp tacos, and shrimp and grits meal kits—visit triplejfarmsstl.com, or call 636-828-4144.)
“People knock on our door constantly,” he says. “You have to come down a long gravel road to get to us, and we have a closed sign, but they still keep coming back.”
