By Carl Gustin

Gloucester businesses are already significant participants in the Blue Economy, which is depicted below in the infographic from the World Bank. Blue Economy businesses in Gloucester include Gorton’s, Intershell and diverse companies on the Jodrey State Fish Pier, as well initiatives and organizations addressing climate change, deploying renewable energy and building tourism around Gloucester’s maritime history.

It’s also seen in a new initiative, supported in part by the Gloucester EDIC, to create a North Shore Blue Economy Coalition. The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce is working with UMass Amherst’s Gloucester Marine Station, headed by Dr. Katherine Kahl, and with Dr. Michael Goodman, co-author of a 2017 report by UMass Dartmouth’s Public Policy Center assessing the state’s maritime economy. Both UMass campuses have strong marine research and public policy programs.

The first step was to secure funding to assess the scope of existing Blue Economy economic activities leading to the development of a regional Blue Economy Economic Development Strategy.

That strategy will draw heavily on Gloucester’s proximity to the ocean and its experience and expertise in marine and maritime industries. It will traditional maritime industries as well as 21st century technologies, new discoveries, such as those being pursued by the newly opened Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute on Rogers Street, and a growing workforce built around skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).