Dick Jones has been named the new CEO of Hawaii-based Kanpachi farmer Blue Ocean Mariculture.
Jones, who has been with NGO Ocean Outcomes for five years, will remain on its board. Ocean Outcomes named board Chairman Steve Hall as the interim CEO. Jones has also worked as a seafood buyer for Whole Foods and Texas retailer HEB.
Blue Ocean Mariculture farms its Kanpachi (seriola rivoliana) off the Hawaii coast. The fish, a member of the amberjack family, is also known as yellowtail.
The company currently produces about 800 metric tons of fish annually, but has the capacity to produce 2,400 metric tons, which Jones said he expects will happen by 2023. The product is currently sold to the US market, but the company plans to expand sales internationally.
"We are the only commercial open-ocean mariculture operation in the United States and we are looking to be an exemplary model for further development of offshore-aquaculture," Jones said.
In May, the US offshore aquaculture sector won the support of the federal government after President Donald Trump issued an executive order promoting development of the sector.
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