Omega Protein Selected to Join the Russell 3000 Index®

HOUSTON, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Omega Protein Corporation (NYSE: OME), a nutritional ingredient company that is also the nation's leading producer of Omega-3 fish oil and specialty fish meal products, today announced that it has been selected to join the Russell 3000 Index® when the Russell Investment Group reconstitutes its family of U.S. indexes on June 24, 2011.  Russell recently posted a list of preliminary additions to its indexes on www.russell.com.

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. Investment managers who oversee these funds purchase shares of member stocks according to that company's weighting in the particular index.

Annual reconstitution of Russell indexes captures the 3,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization to create the Russell 3000. The largest 1,000 companies in the ranking comprise the Russell 1000 while the remaining 2,000 companies become the widely used Russell 2000.   

About Omega Protein

Omega Protein Corporation is a nutrition and wellness company dedicated to delivering healthy products to the animal, human and plant nutrition industries.  Omega Protein's marine product lines are sourced from menhaden, an Omega-3 rich fish harvested along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:  The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Forward-looking information may be based on projects, predictions and estimates.  Some statements in this press release may be forward-looking and use words like "may," "may not," "believes," "do not believe," "expects," "do not expect," "anticipates," "do not anticipate," "see," "do not see," or other similar expressions.  The actual results of future events described in any of these forward-looking statements could differ materially from those stated in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to be materially different from those forward-looking statements include, among others: (1) the Company's ability to meet its raw material requirements through its annual menhaden harvest, which is subject to fluctuations due to natural conditions over which the Company has no control, such as varying fish population, fish oil yields, adverse weather conditions, natural and other disasters and disease; (2) the impact of laws and regulations that may be enacted that may restrict the Company's operations or the sale of the Company's products; (3) the impact of worldwide supply and demand relationships on prices for the Company's products; (4) the Company's expectations regarding demand and pricing for its products proving to be incorrect; (5) fluctuations in the Company's quarterly operating results due to the seasonality of the Company's business and its deferral of inventory sales based on worldwide prices for competing products; (6) the long-term effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Company's business, operations and fish catch; and (7) the business, operations, potential or prospects for the Company's subsidiary, Cyvex Nutrition, Inc., the dietary supplement market or the human health and wellness segment generally.  Other factors are described in further detail in Omega's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.

www.omegaproteininc.com

SOURCE Omega Protein Corporation