MAR2020 allocates €1.5 million to Oceano Fresco for the installation of a nursery in the open sea
Mira, November 27, 2019. The Portuguese aquaculture company Oceano Fresco SA has just announced the allocation of support of around €1.5 million for the installation of an open sea nursery. The installation will take place from 2020 and will occupy an area of more than 100 hectares 5 km from the coast of Lagos / Alvor, in the Algarve. The structure will consist of long lines (submerged horizontal cables) in which lanterns (network-wrapped dishes) will be placed where the bivalves will be cultivated, as illustrated in the image.
Bernardo Ferreira de Carvalho, founder and CEO of Oceano Fresco, said that “the nursery will be fundamental for us to be able to cultivate the complete biological cycle, from spawning to edible adult size. For this, we rely on the articulation between our maternity in Nazaré, where the seed will come from, and this nursery in the Algarve, where it will be fattened. These assets are key to achieving our goal of becoming the first company to apply scientific, long-term, systematic and scalable methods to shellfish production.”
The support, granted by the MAR2020 Program to the company Puromar (100% owned by Oceano Fresco) and conditioned to the fulfillment of certain requirements already foreseen, comes in addition to other national and international incentives achieved by the group, as well as investments by its shareholders , which together already exceed €7.5 million.
Based on this support and its own resources, Oceano Fresco will expand its operations to the Algarve, taking advantage of the excellent natural conditions of the sea, particularly in terms of the availability of microalgae, which are the natural food of bivalves.
The MAR2020 Programme, which awarded the support, is an Operational Program jointly funded by the European Union and the Government of Portugal, designed to promote competitiveness and innovation, to guarantee the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the fisheries and aquaculture industry. , and contribute to development and employability in coastal regions.