Animal husbandry – Aquatic animal culturing – Fish culturing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-20
2001-06-12
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Aquatic animal culturing
Fish culturing
C119S221000, C405S024000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244218
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to systems for promoting and/or controlling the growth of aquatic species. The present invention also relates to structures and methods for controlling and/or improving the quality of aquatic environments.
Systems for improving aquatic habitats are referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,330 (O'Hare), U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,657 (Saiki), U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,104 (Streichenberger), U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,579 (Uchida) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,453 (McMickle). A floating open ocean farm system is referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,672 (Spencer). A system for cultivating crustaceans in water is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,266 (Hoshino).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a structure for promoting and/or controlling the growth of aquatic species. According to one aspect of the invention, the structure has a buoyant member, a flexible sheet connected to the buoyant member, and flexible strips (such as fronds, ribbons or filaments) connected to the flexible sheet. The flexible sheet may have a high surface area structure for promoting growth of autotrophic organisms in the photic zone. The strips may be arranged to promote the growth of heterotrophic organisms, such as bacteria, beneath the photic zone.
According to another aspect of the invention, the flexible sheet may be suspended from a hollow tube. The tube has sufficient buoyancy to remain at the water surface even as the weight of the flexible sheet and strips increases over time. The flexible materials may become heavier, for example, due to organic and inorganic accumulation on their surfaces. Additional float devices may be provided to ensure that the tube does not become submerged. The additional float devices may be used, for example, where heavy sediment and biological growths accumulate on the structure.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the flexible sheet may be connected to the hollow tube by a flexible sleeve. The sleeve can rotate on the tube so that the sheet does not tend to become wound up on the tube over prolonged use. Preferably, the flexible sheet remains suspended substantially vertically in the photic zone.
The flexible strips may have lowermost free ends that are not connected to each other. Some of the free ends may be anchored to the benthos. Other free ends may be allowed to sway in the water current to form a branched habitat that attracts certain aquatic species. Preferably, the strips have a specific gravity of at least 1.02 so that they do not float upward to the water surface. Ballast devices, such as lead weights or flexible bags filled with ballast material, may be provided for anchoring some of the strips to the water bottom, if desired. If desired, additional anchor devices may be tethered to the ends of the hollow tube. The total height of the aquaculture apparatus is preferably greater than the depth of the water so that the ballast devices and/or anchors reach the benthos.
The present invention also relates to methods of deploying aquaculture structures in water and methods of using such structures to promote the growth and/or accumulation of aquatic species.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, flexible high surface area structures are used to promote the formation of biofilms. The high surface area structures may be suspended in the respective photic and heterotrophic zones. The high surface area structures may be formed of a variety of materials, including but not limited to, needle-punched spun bond fabric, needle-punched woven scrim flame sealed fabric, open cell foam, batting, and microporous granular particles. The high surface area structures may be provided on or within flexible sheets, panels and/or ribbons. The preferred flexible structures may be formed in a single layer or in multiple side-by-side layers.
An object of the invention is to provide a synthetic aquatic structure that is easy to handle and deploy, and that maintains its biologically active portions at the desired depths in a body of water.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system for generating food, controlling water quality and providing shelter in an aquatic environment.
Another object of the invention is to encourage and support the production of a natural, regenerative food source for successful aquaculture production under a wide variety of conditions. Thus, the present invention may be used to simultaneously provide both food and shelter for aquatic species, for example for aquaculture purposes. By providing food and shelter in the same structure, a viable population of a given aquatic species may be maintained and supported in a concentrated area.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system that can be economically adapted and tailored for different uses and conditions. For example, the growth of sessile and periphytic organisms may be enhanced by selectively modifying the flexible surface structure and/or by providing desired nutrients in the surface structure. In addition, bacteria may be selectively implanted to create desired biological effects in the water.
Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3071111 (1963-01-01), Hamilton
patent: 3299640 (1967-01-01), Nielsen
patent: 3540415 (1970-11-01), Bromley
patent: 3559407 (1971-02-01), Schuur
patent: 3590585 (1971-07-01), De Winter
patent: 3820339 (1974-06-01), Luque
patent: 3841266 (1974-10-01), Hoshino
patent: 4130994 (1978-12-01), Van Moss, Jr.
patent: 4221500 (1980-09-01), Garrett
patent: 4337007 (1982-06-01), Smith
patent: 4374629 (1983-02-01), Garrett
patent: 4437786 (1984-03-01), Morrisroe
patent: 4441453 (1984-04-01), McMickle et al.
patent: 4478533 (1984-10-01), Garrett
patent: 4490071 (1984-12-01), Morrisroe
patent: 4534675 (1985-08-01), Morrisroe
patent: 4641997 (1987-02-01), Lauer et al.
patent: 4657432 (1987-04-01), Rentrop et al.
patent: 4699829 (1987-10-01), Willinger
patent: 4722639 (1988-02-01), Alsop
patent: 4818579 (1989-04-01), Uchida
patent: 4950104 (1990-08-01), Streichenberger
patent: 5027747 (1991-07-01), Talley
patent: 5113792 (1992-05-01), Jones et al.
patent: 5176469 (1993-01-01), Alsop
patent: 5255480 (1993-10-01), Alsop
patent: 5309672 (1994-05-01), Spencer et al.
patent: 5546895 (1996-08-01), Brown
patent: 5575584 (1996-11-01), Alsop
patent: 5639657 (1997-06-01), Saiki et al.
patent: 5653193 (1997-08-01), Marissal
patent: 5669330 (1997-09-01), O'Hare
patent: 5871303 (1999-02-01), Brown, III et al.
patent: 5876151 (1999-03-01), Brown, III et al.
patent: 5884585 (1999-03-01), Streichenberger
patent: 6060153 (2000-05-01), McNeil
patent: 1811506 (1969-07-01), None
patent: 1176772 (1970-01-01), None
patent: 1385974 (1975-03-01), None
patent: 54-70989 (1979-06-01), None
patent: 07307326 (1997-06-01), None
patent: WO 85/03539 (1985-08-01), None
Dickstein , Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky, LLP
Jordan Charles T.
Marine Environmental Solutions L.L.C.
Shaw Elizabeth
LandOfFree
Aquatic structure and method does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Aquatic structure and method, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Aquatic structure and method will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2454628