Aquaculture method and apparatus
OwnerJames M. Knott, Sr.inventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aquaculture cage including a buoyant upper support for disposition at the surface of a water body; a side wall having an upper edge secured to said upper support so as to project below the surface of the water body, the side wall being formed with a plurality of vertically contractible, non-buoyant panels having vertically adjacent edges joined to form an enclosure and each of the joined vertical edges defining a plurality of vertically spaced apart loops; and an elongated connector element extending through the loops of the adjacent edges so as to secure together the panels. Also included is a bottom wall joined to the side wall to close the bottom of the enclosure.
Claims20
An aquaculture cage comprising:
- a buoyant upper support means for disposition at the surface of a water body of an aquaculture farm;
- a side wall having an upper edge secured to said upper support means so as to project below the surface of said water body;
- said side wall being formed with a plurality of vertically contractible, non-buoyant panels having vertically adjacent edges joined to form an enclosure, each of said joined vertical edges defining a plurality of vertically spaced apart loops;
- an elongated connector element extending through said loops of said adjacent edges so as to secure together said panels;
- and
- bottom wall means joined to said side wall to close the bottom of said enclosure.
An aquaculture method comprising the steps of:
- forming a plurality of contractible non-buoyant mesh panels having side, bottom and top edges;
- transporting said panels to a location having a water body;
- joining adjacent said side edges of said panels to form an enclosure;
- attaching a closure means to said bottom edges to close the bottom of said enclosure;
- securing said top edges to a buoyant means;
- positioning said enclosure in the water body;
- supporting said enclosure from the surface of the water body with a buoyant support means;
- growing a fish crop in said enclosure;
- applying a force to move said closure means upwardly to contract said enclosure;
- and
- harvesting the fish crop at the surface of said water body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.