Forever Oceans Appoints Bill Bien as New CEO to Lead a New Phase of Growth

GAINESVILLE, Va., Nov. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Forever Oceans announces that sustainable technologies executive Bill Bien is joining the company as Chief Executive Officer effective today. With more than 25 years of experience in executive management, strategy, marketing, and sales, Bill will bring veteran global leadership to the Forever Oceans team.

"I look forward to expanding Forever Ocean's innovation and market leadership in sustainable seafood," says Bien. "The world needs more sustainably raised seafood to feed its growing population in an environmentally sound and commercially attractive way. Forever Oceans is poised to do just that. U.S. consumer purchases of seafood grew over 30 percent since 2019, and their demand for high quality, delicious and sustainable seafood will continue to grow. Our leadership position in producing nutritious, contaminant-free fish from off-shore enclosures gives us a unique position for long-term growth."

Bien succeeds Forever Oceans founder Jason Heckathorn who will continue to serve on the company's board of directors and as its Chief Sustainability Officer. 

Bien has served globally as an executive leader for startups and market leading enterprises in the ag-tech, clean-tech, and high-tech sectors. Most recently, he was the CEO of Signify's Agricultural Lighting division, where he grew a global business that provided lighting systems, software, and products to greenhouse growers, vertical farmers, livestock farmers, and aquaculture companies.  Previously, he served as Signify's overall Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Strategy Officer and led the company's achievement of its 100% carbon neutrality strategy for which the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the United Nations recognized Signify as one of the world's leading sustainability companies. 

In addition, Bill served as a senior go to market executive and CEO for startups and large cap growth companies. He has held senior high tech management roles in marketing, sales, business development, and strategic planning for Cisco in the United States, Telstra in Australia, and the Boston Consulting Group in China. He has worked in the United States, Asia, Europe, and in Australia and has led teams across multiple regions and cultures. He graduated from the Ohio State University with degrees in Chinese and Economics and graduated from Stanford Law School with a Juris Doctorate.

"Forever Oceans is pioneering a new ocean-raised market by offering highly nutritious fish that will meet the world's increasing demand for fish protein while also preserving our oceans and the environment," Bien says. "Forever Oceans' unique ocean-raised production and management technologies will enable us to quickly build a market leading position. I look forward to working with the team to achieve our full potential as a market leader in aquaculture innovation."

About Forever Oceans

Forever Oceans recently earned a major distinction as one of North America's Top 25 Product Innovators by Seafood Source, a leading industry publication. According to the award, the company demonstrated, "innovative practices driving seafood product development into a new era". Forever Oceans recently completed a record harvest from enclosures off the coast of Panama. Additional enclosures are off the coasts of Brazil, Indonesia, and at its Research and Technology Center in Hawaii. The company is unique in its use of robots to nurture its fish without human contact and the monitoring of each enclosure remotely in real time through its offshore enclosures. Learn more at www.ForeverOceans.com.

SOURCE Forever Oceans