Fish egg sweeper
OwnerRandall L. Tucker, John A. D. McArthurinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for handling fish eggs and other benthic macro invertebrates is provided for removal from a surface of a waterway. An enlarged, generally planar housing has a lower surface formed of a material having sufficient flexibility so that a vacuum that communicates through a collector cavity can remove fish eggs, for example, from a waterway. Fish eggs can be destroyed, either with high pressure fluid that may be a part of the vacuum assembly, or mechanically destroyed, or alternatively the fish eggs may be filtered or separated from the remainder of the collected material. Fluid such as water, saline, chemical or toxins, warm water, etc., are preferably introduced into the waterway surface about the periphery of the housing to treat and/or dislodge the fish eggs.
Claims21
A fish egg sweeper comprising:
- a housing having a lower, first surface having a substantially planar conformation formed from a flexible material and dimensioned for receipt on a bottom surface of the associated waterway;
- a cavity in a portion of the housing thereof that communicates with the lower surface and collects water and material from the associated waterway;
- perimeter openings in the housing for directing flow from an associated pressurized fluid source and outwardly from the lower, first surface;
- and
- a collector opening communicating with the cavity and an associated vacuum source for removing material therethrough.
A method of treating fish eggs in a waterway comprising:
- providing a flexible surface that generally conforms to a waterway surface;
- directing pressurized fluid outwardly from a perimeter of the flexible surface toward a waterway surface to displace fish eggs from the waterway serface;
- and
- using a vacuum force to collect the displaced fish eggs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.