Oceano Fresco

Oceano Fresco is a Portuguese aquaculture company based in Nazaré, on Portugal's Atlantic west coast. It describes itself as a pioneer in regenerative, scalable and science-driven bivalve cultivation, using innovative techniques to farm high-quality native European shellfish species. The company's mission is built on the idea that bivalves, as low-trophic species, are a "nature-based solution" that can help regenerate the environment while producing healthy food. Oceano Fresco cultivates exclusively native European bivalve species. To date these include the clams Venerupis corrugata (Amêijoa Macha) and Ruditapes decussatus (Amêijoa Boa or Rainha), as well as the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis. These species are highly sought after but scarce, as they are in decline and threatened by exotic and invasive species. The company operates a hatchery (maternity) and what it describes as the world's first open-ocean clam nursery, located in the Atlantic Ocean off Portugal's coast. The company was founded in 2015 and has been financed by its founders, state grants and venture capital funds that share its vision of a true "Blue Economy" for Europe and the world. In 2018 it received a Series A investment from BlueCrow Capital and two individual investors. In 2020 it built its Biomarine Centre (including the hatchery) in Nazaré and constructed its first open-ocean nursery. Oceano Fresco positions itself at the intersection of sustainable food production, marine biodiversity and regenerative aquaculture. Its products — open-ocean clams and European flat oysters — are marketed as naturally sustainable, healthy and tasty. The company operates primarily in Portugal and targets European and global markets for premium, sustainably farmed bivalves.

Oceano Fresco was founded in 2015 with the aim of developing sustainable, scalable bivalve aquaculture based on native European species. In its first year, the company conducted a global market study with fieldwork in the world's largest bivalve-producing countries, including China, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway and the United States. In 2016 it began pioneering scientific research into innovative selective breeding and cultivation processes. In 2018, Oceano Fresco secured a Series A investment from BlueCrow Capital and two individual investors, providing capital to scale its operations. In 2020, the company built its Biomarine Centre, which includes its hatchery (maternity), in Nazaré on Portugal's west coast. That same year it constructed what it describes as the world's first open-ocean clam nursery, located off the Portuguese coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The company has been financed by its founders, state grants and venture capital funds that share its vision of a true "Blue Economy" for Europe and the world. Its cultivation model is regenerative: bivalves are low-trophic species that filter water and require no feed inputs, and the company argues that farming and eating them better can help regenerate nature. Oceano Fresco cultivates exclusively native European bivalve species — the clams Venerupis corrugata and Ruditapes decussatus, and the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis — which are highly sought after but scarce due to decline and threats from exotic and invasive species. The company continues to operate from Nazaré, producing open-ocean clams and oysters for the Portuguese and wider European markets.

• 2020

  Construction of the Biomarine Centre (including hatchery) in Nazaré, Portugal.

• 2020

  Construction of the world's first open-ocean clam nursery.

• 2018

  Series A investment from BlueCrow Capital and two individual investors.

• 2016

  Pioneering scientific research into innovative selective breeding and cultivation processes.

• 2015

  Global market study with fieldwork in major bivalve-producing countries.

Pioneer in regenerative, scalable and science-driven bivalve aquaculture, producing native European species in open-ocean nurseries.

• Amêijoas de Mar Aberto (open-ocean clams)

  Clams from the Atlantic Ocean, described as naturally sustainable, healthy and tasty.

• Ostra Plana Europeia (European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis)

  The original native European oyster species, grown in the company's open-ocean nursery in the Atlantic.

• Venerupis corrugata (Amêijoa Macha)

  A native European clam species cultivated by Oceano Fresco.

• Ruditapes decussatus (Amêijoa Boa or Rainha)

  A native European clam species cultivated by Oceano Fresco.

1. 1Oceano Fresco - Cultivo Sustentável de Bivalves em Mar Abertooceano-fresco.pt
2. 2Sobre nósoceano-fresco.pt
3. 3Oceano Fresco (Portugal) - Wikidatawikidata.org