Method for growing edible aquatic animals on a large scale

Claim 1

In the growing of the members of a batch of a selected species of aquatic animal from an initial average unit weight w to a desired average unit weight wn, said species being confined in a body of water maintained under conditions meeting the biological growth requirements thereof, the improvement comprising: a. on a growth curve for said species selecting first and second points corresponding respectively to said initial average unit weight wand said desired average unit weight wn; b. subdividing that part of said curve between said points into periods of equal time t to determine the unit weights w1... wn attained by the ends of said periods; c. providing a series of above-ambient-temperature, continuousflow ponds p1... pn whose respective dwell volumes for said species increase in substantially the same proportion as said weights w1... wn, said ponds being fed by a stream of water which is at above-ambient temperature by virtue of being derived at least in part from effluent coolant water at aboveambient temperature; d. introducing said batch into the smallest-dwell-volume pond p1 of said series of ponds and maintaining it therein for said time to grow the same from said initial weight w to said weight w1; e. sequentially transferring the batch so grown into each of the remaining ponds p2... pn for said time t to respectively increase the average unit weight of said batch to the values w2... wn; and f. recovering said batch from the largest-dwell-volume pond pn of said series.