Anchorable mobile spar and ring fish pen
AssigneeOcean Spar Technologies, LLC
InventorsGary F. Loverich, Kurt T. Swanson, Clifford A. Goudey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Anchorable mobile pens for growing fish or shellfish that have an elongate central vertical spar buoy surrounded by at least one horizontal net-supporting ring with continuous netting extending from an upper end of the buoy to the ring and thence to a lower, submerged end of the buoy to produce an enclosed pen. The pen is optionally not anchored and free to float with the currents although it may more often be anchored by conventional means. The mobility of the pens provides the benefits of avoidance of localized hazards, like toxic plankton blooms, and the capability to move the pen to a more convenient fish-harvesting location, if necessary.
Claims38
A pen for fish farming, the pen comprising:
- (a) at least one spar buoy adapted to be vertically oriented in a body of water, the buoy having an upper section and a lower section;
- (b) at least one horizontal ring surrounding the at least one spar buoy and spaced apart therefrom;
- (c) first flexible netting spanning the area between the at least one buoy and the at least one horizontal ring, the netting affixed in the vicinity of an upper end of the buoy and extending outwardly and downwardly toward said at least one horizontal ring and attached to said ring to form an upper enclosure;
- and
- (d) second flexible netting spanning the area between the at least one buoy and the at least one horizontal ring, the netting affixed to said at least one ring and extending downwardly and inwardly toward a lower end of the buoy and attached in the vicinity of said lower end of the buoy to form a lower enclosure.
A shellfish pen comprising:
- (a) at least one spar buoy adapted to be vertically oriented in a body of water, the buoy having an upper section for projecting above the water surface, and a lower section for submerging beneath the water surface;
- (b) at least two vertically spaced horizontal rings surrounding the at least one spar buoy and spaced therefrom;
- (c) vertical netting enclosing areas between the two horizontal rings;
- (d) upper substantially horizontal netting enclosing areas between an upper of the at least two rings and the at least one spar buoy and lower substantially horizontal netting enclosing areas between a lower of the at least two rings and the at least one spar buoy;
- and
- (e) first supporting taut lines extending from near an upper end of the at least one spar buoy to first points of attachment on an upper horizontal ring, and second supporting taut lines extending from near an end of the lower section of the spar buoy to second points of attachment on a lower horizontal ring.
A pen for fish farming, the pen comprising:
- (a) a spar buoy adapted to orient vertically in a body of water, the buoy having an upper section and a lower section;
- (b) a horizontal ring surrounding the spar buoy and spaced therefrom;
- (c) first flexible netting spanning the area between the buoy and the horizontal ring, the netting affixed in the vicinity of an upper end of the buoy and extending outwardly and downwardly toward said horizontal ring, and attached to said ring, to form an upper enclosure;
- and
- (d) second flexible netting spanning the area between the buoy and the horizontal ring, the netting affixed to said ring and extending downwardly and inwardly toward a lower end of the buoy, and attached in the vicinity of said lower end of the buoy, to form a lower enclosure.
A pen for fish farming, the pen comprising:
- (a) at least one spar buoy adapted to be vertically oriented in a body of water, the buoy having an upper section and a lower section;
- (b) at least one horizontal ring surrounding the at least one spar buoy and spaced apart therefrom;
- (c) first flexible netting spanning the area between the at least one buoy and the at least one horizontal ring, the netting affixed in the vicinity of an upper end of the buoy and extending outwardly and downwardly toward said at least one horizontal ring and attached to said ring to form an upper enclosure;
- and
- (d) second flexible netting spanning the area between the at least one horizontal ring, the second flexible netting affixed to said at least one ring and extending downward and inward to attach to a combined damper and ballast plate, the plate located beneath a lower extremity of the at least one spar buoy and connected to the lower extremity by a taut line.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.