Hatchery

The larvae spend 4 weeks in the hatchery, where their water temperature, salinity and feed are constantly monitored. The hatchery has 24 hour staff to maintain a completely controlled environment. They are fed artemia (sea monkeys), supplied by Inve company; blood worms; and wild squid from California. They are fed every three hours. In total, they are fed 24 pound/day/hatchery – 3000lbs/year. After 4 weeks, they are moved to the race ways, next to the ponds, where they become acclimated to the next phase of their life cycle – the open ponds where they grow to maturity and are harvested 3 and a half months later.

Some of the shrimp are kept as broodstock for up to 6 months, where they must mate. They are kept in 4 ponds in a light controlled, dark, warm room.

Bacteria

The bacteria are closely monitored in order to prevent outbreaks of disease. Felt rolls are rolled into the water to hold the bacteria and nitrifying bacteria controls the nitrite levels, to balance the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Every set of 8 ponds have 1 treatment pond, where the water is circulated through and cleaned twice a year.

Water

The original water for the larvae is marine water and is brought by tanker from NOVA Southeastern University. The same water follows the larvae through all stages of its life. Water is also used from an ancient deep aquifer because of its salinity level and purity. Since it is slightly saline, it is not used for local consumption or local farms. All the water is drained and circulated through native, controlled environment twice a year to clean it and then re-use for the next crop. 100,000 Tilapia are used in the recirculation, cleansing process in each treatment pond, which serves 8 shrimp ponds. The salinity level of water is closely monitored. All ponds, including the water treatment ponds, are lined with plastic to maintain isolation from the surrounding environment. They claim no water or waste is released into the environment.

Tilapia

The larvae are fed diatoms and the adults are fed soy and wheat. Their feed comes from Zeigler company in PA. They also are used in the recirculation ponds to clean the waste. One third of the tilapia is marketed as organic fillets, and the rest is fed to the shrimp.

Certification

The organic shrimp have two certifications. OceanBoy Farms has recently been accredited by the Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC), which is an industry certification program. In addition, in the summer of 2004, Ocean Boy was given organic certification by the USDA through the livestock organic program. The USDA does not currently have organic standards for seafood and OceanBoy was the first and only seafood farm to obtain USDA organic certification. The USDA will not allow further organic certification until specific standards are developed for aquatic species.

Production

OceanBoy has two seasons, two harvests. The first season runs from the end of March to mid-July and harvest runs for one month, until mid-August. The second harvest runs from mid-August to November. The raising of the larvae begins four and a half weeks before the season begins. OceanBoy produces 2.4 million lbs of shrimp/year. Approximately 40,000 pounds is processed per day during harvest. One person can process 100lbs/hour. They also abide by HAACP standards.

Expansion

The Company intends to purchase, subject to funding, additional land in the general area to construct 160 more ponds in 2006 and 160 ponds in 2007, all for a grand total of 472 - 4 hectare production ponds in the general "Little Cypress" area by year-end 2007.