#64: Now is the Era for the Oceans with Neil Sims

You're 75 miles offshore of the Big Island in Hawaii in a floating sphere and you're surrounded by 2,000 of your friends. That's what life is like as a Kampachi fish in Ocean Era's offshore aquaculture fish pen (Velella Beta/Gamma/Epsilon).

This week Heidi and Bella spoke with Neil Sims, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ocean Era - a Hawaii-based mariculture company focused on expanding the environmentally sound production of the ocean's finest fish.

You'll learn:

• What is offshore aquaculture? How is it different to land based aquaculture (hint: decreased electricity usage, better flow of nutrients)
• What is a Velella?
• What are fish currently fed in aquaculture? How can we make this more sustainable
• More talk about seaweed! (can you ever have too much?)

Useful links:

• Read more about Ocean Era's research projects
• TIME Magazine’s “25 Best Inventions of the Year” for 2012
• Scientific paper discussed at the start of the episode: Farming the Ocean – Seaweeds as a Quick Fix for the Climate? by Troell et al. 2022