Shrimping West Texas

By Bart Reid

Texana / Science / Aquaculture

Publisher: Texas Tech University Press

Pages: 256

Publication Date: May 21, 2024

Synopsis

When you think of a marine environment, what do you picture? Wetlands, possibly; coastal shores, perhaps. When you think of a shrimp farm, what do you picture? Some folks who know a thing or two about aquaculture might say any marine or freshwater environment will do.

Bart Reid, one of the founders of the Permian Sea Shrimp company, is here to tell you otherwise. Shrimping West Texas is the story of that business and the history of the harebrained notion that farming shrimp is possible in the West Texas desert.

Spanning twenty years of successes and failures, Reid captures the quintessential West Texas entrepreneurial spirit, tallies the unique environmental factors that made this possible, and depicts the motley crew of business folks, scientists, and schemers who were part of the tale.

Texas Tech Univ Press | Amazon | Bart’s Bay Armor

Review

Shrimp farms and West Texas. These two things shouldn’t go together, but they do beautifully.

While reading this book, I felt like I was sitting across from the author and listening to him tell me about his life and how he got into shrimp farming. He has a way with words and made this topic enjoyable to read. Others could have brought in more technical aspects of shrimp farming and written something the average layperson cannot understand. But not so with this book. Honestly, it doesn’t read like nonfiction, and that is a huge plus where I am concerned. Sometimes, nonfiction can be dry and technical, so for this book to have been written as if it were a conversation between two people is a massive boon to the author.

I learned so much about shrimp farming from this book. While I am not rushing out to get into this business, the details about why West Texas has the perfect water to grow shrimp, as well as the pitfalls and successes he experienced during his time there, enhanced the topic. I felt like the author did a great job describing the people he worked with and for, while also sharing funny stories about these people. I can’t tell you the number of times I found myself chuckling at an anecdote.

I would not have rushed out to purchase the shrimp they sold since I do not eat seafood, but what a great conversation starter if shrimp were to be served at a dinner or party. I can imagine the look of surprise on people’s faces because they, too, would not put shrimp and West Texas together.

While nonfiction is not usually a genre I read often, this book is one of my favorites this year. I will recommend this book to my friends and family; in fact, I already have!

We give this book 5 paws up.

About the Author

Bart Reid is a marine biologist with a master’s degree from Texas A&M. He has been in the aquaculture (fish farming) business for over 30 years. After many years of farming shrimp in west Texas he now farms algae for Omega 3 supplements and bioplastics. He also owns Bart’s Bay Armor, a fishing apparel and wading boot company based out of Port Mansfield, Texas, where he fishes on the Laguna Madre.

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