BLUE ECONOMY INITIATIVES AT THE PORT OF SAN DIEGO: EXPLORING REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR AQUACULTURE AND BLUE TECHNOLOGY

The Port of San Diego was established by state legislation as a trustee of the land and water around San Diego Bay for the promotion of fisheries, commerce, navigation and recreation. Inherent to The Port's mission is to utilize its various assets in leading and accelerating the Blue Economy around San Diego Bay. Water dependent business is a long and proud tradition at The Port and its sustainable future is critical to our region's long term success of water dependent fisheries and technologies. To this end, the Port has been exploring opportunities to advance emerging aquaculture and blue tech businesses, as a way to diversify its portfolio of business lines and assets, while strengthening alignment with its mission and Strategic Plan. 

Aquaculture is a growing opportunity for new business development in Southern California. The aquaculture opportunity is being driven by the need to support development of sustainable domestic marine aquaculture industry. The U.S. currently imports over 91 percent of the seafood it consumes. In economic terms, these imports consistently contribute to a nearly $14 billion domestic seafood trade deficit each year. Globally, 50 percent of seafood produced comes from aquaculture. Domestically only three percent of seafood produced is from aquaculture. While there is a clear food production component to this demand, aquaculture offers multiple co-benefits, such as fisheries enhancement, ecosystem restoration, mitigation banking, bio-fuel/medical purposes, bioremediation, and education and outreach.

Since 2015, the District has been conducting studies, planning and completing pre-development work to support and inform aquaculture opportunities including:

• Coastal marine spatial planning to inform future development for aquaculture
• Baywide feasibility study to assess infrastructure capable of supporting aquaculture
• Research to support the development of permit ready infrastructure
• Stakeholder outreach for the San Diego Ocean Planning Partnership
• Research to support development of an Aquaculture Technology Park

In 2016, the District established a Blue Economy incubator and strategic investment fund to assist in the creation, development, and scaling of new business ventures on San Diego Bay, focusing on aquaculture and blue technology.

Ports can and are increasingly playing a critical role in the development of aquaculture, given their expertise, as well as the availability of land and water. As the state-legislated trustee of tidelands and submerged waters of San Diego Bay, developing sustainable domestic aquaculture helps fulfill the District's public trust responsibility to promote fisheries and commerce, as well as aligning with its mission to enhance and protect the environment