BETHESDA, MD. — Deep-water aquaculture specialist Forever Oceans has completed an environmental assessment conducted by the global conservation organization The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Forever Oceans, which has developed its offshore operations to not only be scalable but more sustainable than other forms of marine finfish aquaculture, is currently raising Kanpachi off the West coast of Panama and selling product in the United States.

“We’re proud to have worked closely with The Nature Conservancy in carrying out this environmental assessment of our operations,” said Forever Oceans CEO Bill Bien. “The findings confirm that our approach to raising fish can have significantly less of an impact than traditional forms of aquaculture. Our near-term aim is to be scope 1 & 2 carbon neutral by 2027. This is a bold goal, but we feel confident in taking on the challenges to achieve it.”

The aim of the assessment was to establish a baseline for the company’s environmental performance and determine the actions required to meet ambitious sustainability goals in the coming years. The carbon footprint for Forever Oceans fish is estimated to be less than 1/14 of that for beef. The farm-gate footprint of Forever Oceans Kampachi is estimated at less than 5kg of carbon per kilogram of fish produced, which is less than global average emissions for farmed salmon, and is therefore a comparatively low emissions form of animal protein.

The assessment also confirmed that Forever Oceans’ approach to raising fish is likely to have a negligible impact on the ocean floor—a point of differentiation in one of the key areas of environmental concern for finfish aquaculture. Based on the modeling of Longline International, the average deposit rate of carbon dioxide equivalent produced by Forever Oceans operations in Panama is an order of magnitude less than the “best” Atlantic Canada Sediment Sulphide Classifications & Estimated Carbon Loading Rate, the leading international standard (0.048g CO2/m2/d vs 1.0g CO2/m2/d).

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