Patent filed for commercial prototype of S.A.F.E. System by Neptune Industries

BOCA RATON, FL, Jan. 25, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Neptune Industries Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., today announced that a provisional patent was filed for the Solar-powered, Aquaculture, Finfish, Environment or S.A.F.E. ^TM System, a revolutionary floating production system technology. The system includes the innovative Eco-Tank^TM jointed, articulating tank which absorbs the impacts of wave, wind, and current action. The provisional patent protects the technology domestically and internationally for one year, during which time full patent applications will be filed worldwide.

Company founders, CEO Ernest Papadoyianis and COO Sal Cherch developed the innovative, floating, semi-rigid containment system for intensive aquaculture production after eight years of R&D. The tank is multi-sectional with specialized gaskets allowing articulation between solid joining sections, and a conical-shaped bottom for optimal waste collection, thereby enabling this novel system to efficiently contain and manage solid waste collection even in closed bodies of water where traditional intensive fish farming can have a potentially negative environmental impact (and, consequently has not been feasible to date). S.A.F.E. technology can be used in a variety of deep and shallow water applications including lakes; ponds; preformed impoundments such as quarries, burrow pits, mineral mines, storm water treatment areas, etc.; as well as bays; estuaries; and other near-shore marine environments.

The S.A.F.E. System is designed to:
-- Be modular in design for ease of use in a variety of settings, and with a variety of systems. It is designed to withstand a variety of environmental stressors (for example, heave from wave action) without compromising the efficiency and efficacy of waste collection.
-- Serve as an economically and environmentally superior alternative to currently available cages and net pens.
-- Allow for environmentally sustainable grow-out of finfish (through efficacious removal of solid waste and discharge of very dilute effluent).
-- Afford protection from predators.
-- Use relatively low levels of power allowing for utilization of alternative energy sources.
-- Be capable of being closed to the exterior environment to isolate the fish from the environment in situations of adverse aquatic conditions (for example anoxic conditions due to lake inversion) or for disease treatment.
-- Be cost-effective, easy to transport, and set up for use in remote locations.

The technology has application in fresh and saltwater, with food fish and ornamentals, as well as, fingerlings or grow-out production. The system is designed to use the volume of the lake/bay, yet in the event of an oxygen depletion, spill, or toxic algae bloom, the tank can be isolated and operated as a completely independent system. These isolated systems provide an ideal treatment center for an infected crop; used to protect crops from oxygen depletion in the event of lake turnover by providing oxygenation to each tank, provide an ideal environment for rapid fry and fingerling growth, and an easy and effective harvest area. Furthermore, because of its semi-rigid articulating structure, the system is ideal for use in bodies of water where environmental stressors could, potentially, inhibit effective waste management.

Papadoyianis and Cherch issued a jointly stated, "We are extremely pleased and excited to bring this unique technology to the world market. After many years of component design in the quarry lakes of South Florida, we believe the S.A.F.E. technology will open up many areas around the world for commercial seafood production. Historically these areas have been limited by their remote location, and/or environmental restrictions. Our current goal is to take this technology to the next level by making it 100% self-sufficient, with no outside power required."

The first commercial operation with the system is targeted for the South Pacific in Neptune's joint venture with South Pacific Aqua-Technologies Ltd.

Neptune Industries
Neptune Industries Inc. (www.neptuneindustries.net) is a developing seafood company specializing in farmed production, processing, distribution, value-added products, and technologies for worldwide applications. The company is a leading producer of hybrid striped bass which it markets internationally as "Everglades Striped Bass". Other companies engaged in the vertically integrated production and distribution of food products are Stolt-Nielsen S.A., Nutreco Holding N.V., Hormel Foods and Tyson Foods.

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