This Friday 12th, the first stone was laid for the offshore breeding of the saltwater fish ‘Bulls Eye’ of Forever Oceans Brasil. The project, whose agreement was signed in the United States in 2019, represents an investment of 300 million reais.
Established in Washington, USA, Forever Ocean comes to Brazil combining production and sustainability. The company plans to create two marine farms consisting of 12 cages each, with a production capacity of 8,000 tonnes / year on each farm, as well as to build a laboratory for the production of Olho de Boi fry. There is also a slaughterhouse. of fish per week.
Operations should start in 2023, with the creation of 100 direct jobs and 400 indirect jobs for the region of Ilhias and Itabuna. The first phase of the project includes the start of work for the implementation of the marine fish fry production laboratory (hatchery).
According to the state government, the area is licensed by Ibama for the establishment of offshore farms. With this, Bahia is taking an important step towards strengthening the large-scale fish production chain.
The Secretary of State for Agriculture, Joo Carlos Oliveira, represented Governor Rui Costa at the opening of the program and stressed that the attractiveness of this investment will have a positive impact not only on the economy of the municipality. of Ilhes. He underlines that “the so-called maritime economy is turned towards the future and is already vast throughout the world, Forever Ocean Brasil joining Ilheus and Bahia in this important economic segment”. The secretary also stressed that “the initiative has a strong environmental appeal, which will generate jobs and have a positive impact on the economy of the whole region and the state”.
The partnership was signed through the Secretariat for Economic Development (SDE), Agriculture (Cegri) and Science, Technology and Innovation (SECTI). The project has an agreement with the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC), which will meet the requirements of the company.
In addition to Joo Carlos Oliveira, the opening ceremony was also attended by John Lopes, President of Forever Ocean Brasil, Head of Secti, Adélia Pinheiro, Superintendent of Business Development and Monitoring of SDE, Deraldo Carlos, Deputy to the mayor of Ilheus. Bebeto Galva, President of Bahia Pesca, Marcelo Oliveira and Director of the State University of Santa Cruz and the Federal University of Southern Bahia.
