Ecoponex Systems International, LLC and NaturalShrimp Announce Development of Shrimp Facility in Puerto Rico
Dallas, TX and Evergreen, CO, Dec. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- NaturalShrimp, Inc. (NSI) (OTCQB: SHMP) and Ecoponex Systems International, LLC announce that they have signed a Letter of Intent with Waste to Energy+ (WTE+), based in North Carolina, to develop an organic shrimp farm on the island of Puerto Rico utilizing patented growing technology supplied by Natural Shrimp. Ecoponex, in partnership with WTE+, will arrange financing to build and operate the shrimp facility under its formal joint venture agreement (JV) recently signed with NaturalShrimp. “The project is an example of the benefit of this recently formed JV, which is already starting to bear fruit,” said Gerald Easterling, NaturalShrimp CEO.
WTE+ is planning to develop a large material recovery and energy facility that will process and convert a large percentage of the island’s municipal waste with the separate organic fraction being turned into renewable energy and organic fertilizer. WTE+ has plans to incorporate Ecoponex’s REEF (Renewable Energy Efficient Farm) technology where the renewable energy, fertilizer and CO2 are used to grow fresh food including shrimp, fish and vegetables. The Ecoponex/NSI shrimp technology will be the first project implemented as a key part of the master plan to develop WTE+’s waste to energy and recycling project and Ecoponex’s REEF facility.
Driving this project is the fact that the Puerto Rican shrimp market is totally untapped with no local supply. It is either flown in fresh or supplied frozen by ship or air from the U.S. mainland (Gulf) or Asia. The island has a population of 3.2 million with 3.7 million visitors a year, of which 1.7 million come from cruise ships. The estimated demand for shrimp is 3.5 million pounds a year. With the full build out of the Ecoponex/NSI production facility we expect to supply more than 600,000 pounds of superior quality organic fresh shrimp, which would represent almost 17% of the local demand.
Benjamin Brant, CEO of Ecoponex, commented: “I believe that the project will be a precedent-setting model for the entire Caribbean. There are more than 30 islands with over 44 million people and virtually all of their food, including shrimp, is imported. This puts them at high risk of supply disruption and makes them food insecure. With NaturalShrimp and WTE+ as our strategic partners, we offer Puerto Rico and the entire Caribbean a solution to help these island become more self-reliant for their fresh sea food and organic vegetables, while solving their solid waste problems and using some of that waste to generate badly needed clean electricity.”
About Ecoponex Systems International, LLC: Ecoponex is a privately held company that is in the business of developing, financing, owning and operating REEF™ facilities to serve urban markets in the United States and world. REEFs utilize an integrated platform of proprietary, licensed, patented and patent-pending technologies designed as an integrated closed-loop process. This process efficiently and profitably produces healthy fresh food and renewable energy while recovering CO2, nutrients and clean water to make it a self-reliant net zero operation. REEFs address local environmental and organic waste problems for the benefit of communities, create new jobs, and offer educational/training opportunities and local sustainable economic development by establishing a circular economy with upcycling and repurposing waste.
About NaturalShrimp: NaturalShrimp, Inc. is a publicly traded aqua-tech Company, headquartered in Dallas, with production facilities located near San Antonio, Texas. The Company has developed the first commercially viable system for growing shrimp in enclosed, salt-water systems, using patented technology to produce fresh, never frozen, naturally grown shrimp, without the use of antibiotics or toxic chemicals. NaturalShrimp systems can be located anywhere in the world to produce gourmet-grade Pacific white shrimp.
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Paul Knopick
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Released December 22, 2020