June 2024 Edition
A monthly round-up of news and trends important to the AltaSea community.
AltaSea Community Spotlight
A moon shot to make Southern California an international leader in the “blue economy” is taking shape in San Pedro as a $30-million renovation of three historic waterfront warehouses nears completion.
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Gayle Anderson got the opportunity to preview the official grand opening of the new Center For Innovation, part of AltaSea’s $30-million transformation of three 100+ year old historic warehouses at the Port of Los Angeles into modern spaces for cutting-edge research, education, workforce development, and innovation around ocean-based solutions to climate change.
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A ribbon-cutting at AltaSea’s 35-acre campus in the Port of Los Angeles took place Wednesday morning May 29, 2024. The event spotlighted tenants including Titanic discoverer Dr. Bob Ballard, USC, UCLA, and Caltech research initiatives, as well as ocean-focused startups which will operate out of the facility.
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AltaSea says their ultimate goal is to create a sustainable world through innovative ocean exploration and technology.
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Ryan Harris is a longtime surfer who started his company Eco By Ry to make sustainable surfboards. But seeing how much waste is created in the process, he began using the leftover trash to make new things.
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As we move past some (but not all) of the challenges that COVID presented, many sectors are thriving and we’re seeing businesses stretch the boundaries of what can be accomplished. At the same time, we write about industries that are facing significant challenges and are having to find new ways to succeed. Whether leading through change or bringing their teams to new heights, this year’s LA500 honorees are making an impact throughout our amazing city.
Our CEO and President Terry Tamminen has made this list 2 years in a row! Congratulations Terry!
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In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, Chris Kresser speaks with James Arthur Smith, founder of Seatopia and a pioneer in sustainable aquaculture. James shares his journey from an ocean enthusiast to an innovator in Aquaculture 3.0, emphasizing the transformation of seafood farming practices for better health and environmental sustainability.
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Aquaculture Course
Through this course, High School students will be provided with bulk seeds, learn how to cultivate and identify the fastest-growing
seeds, sort them out to individual cultures, and determine their growth rate. The project will also involve
extracting DNA from seeds, releasing seeds, and attempting to grow kelp attached to gravel or lines in tanks or
the ocean.
Students meet every Thursday (except July 4, which will instead take place on Wednesday, July 3)
This class meets 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. for six weeks (June 20 – July 25, 2024)
Location: AltaSeads at the USC Nuzhdin Seaweed Lab, 2451 S. Signal St., Berth 57, San Pedro, 90731
Complete Application ->
AltaSea Events
June 26th | 3:00pm to 4:00pm
The goal of the project is to shine a spotlight on emerging aquaculture sector in our economy. Aquaculture and the supporting technologies bring together all the key ingredients – future growth opportunities that support our coastal ecosystems, the economy, jobs, and our communities. This webinar series reimagines partnerships between business, government, universities, and communities through regenerative ocean research, exploration, and equity-based economic development.
Saturday, June 29, 2024
10am-12:30pm
A Celebration of Seaforestation, Kelp Conservation, and Sustainable Aquaculture
Come join us on Sat, June 29, 2024, at 10:00 AM for an exciting open house event at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. This open house will feature 3 professionals from the world of aquaculture.
James Arthur, founder of SEATOPIA, a truly regenerative seafood supply chain and empower health-conscious consumers to directly support innovative aquaculture projects producing some of the healthiest protein on the planet.
Dr. Emily Aguirre, an interdisciplinary scientist interested in developing tractable systems to study symbiotic associations between hosts and their microbes.
Marine Science
The ocean has a hidden talent, honed over millennia: the ability to capture and store vast quantities of carbon dioxide, a key driver of climate change. However, the ocean’s natural carbon capture cycles, which take hundreds of thousands of years, cannot keep pace with human-generated carbon emissions. The global shipping industry alone contributes roughly 3% of global CO2 emissions.
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A common type of ocean algae plays a significant role in producing a massively abundant compound that helps cool the Earth’s climate, new research has discovered.
The findings of the study by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Ocean University of China (OUC) could change our understanding of how these tiny marine organisms impact our planet.
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The world’s oceans are facing a “triple threat” of extreme heating, a loss of oxygen and acidification, with extreme conditions becoming far more intense in recent decades and placing enormous stress upon the planet’s panoply of marine life, new research has found.
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For generations, native Hawaiians have understood that their aquaculture systems, fishponds known as loko i‘a, serve as nurseries that seed fish populations in surrounding waters. For the first time, a team of scientists from the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) have modeled this feat of Indigenous science in a study.
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Bleached coral is the poster child of warming oceans, but reefs are far from the only marine ecosystem in hot water. Increasing water temperatures can also harm kelp, the towering underwater seaweed forests that house hundreds of oceanic species and absorb millions of tons of carbon.
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Sustainable and Innovative Business
Charging depots for battery-electric drayage and other heavy-duty trucks have been either coming online or breaking ground at rapid clip. This coincides with shippers at both the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach increasingly adopting such trucks in their inventory. Other companies have been testing out or implementing hydrogen fuel cell-powered heavy-duty equipment, while other investments to help supply that fuel are being made throughout the region.
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Women in Scottish Aquaculture (WiSA), a network dedicated to supporting the career growth and development of women in the aquaculture sector, is seeking a new host to ensure the group continues its impactful work in the future.
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Ocean-related tourism and recreation supports more than 320,000 jobs and US$13.5 billion in goods and services in Florida. But a swim in the ocean became much less attractive in the summer of 2023, when the water temperatures off Miami reached as high as 101 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius).
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LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) – Global investment in clean energy technology and infrastructure is set to hit $2 trillion this year, twice the amount going into fossil fuels, an International Energy Agency report showed.
Total energy investment is expected to exceed $3 trillion for the first time in 2024, the IEA said in its annual World Energy Investment report.
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Oceans are vital to the livelihoods of communities across Canada. They have the potential to be part of climate solutions, create more opportunities for coastal and inland communities, and contribute to a more sustainable and prosperous blue economy.
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Education
More districts are renewing efforts across the country to provide high school students with the opportunities they need to access and excel in STEM fields. The Biden administration launched a STEM initiative in late 2022 that includes more than $1.2 billion in investments from the federal government, industry leaders, and nonprofit organizations.
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The California State University (CSU) has announced a recommendation to integrate California State University Maritime Academy and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and preserve Cal Maritime’s nearly 100-year history and reputation as a vital maritime institution.
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The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the winners of the 2024 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC). The University of New Hampshire was the overall winner, repeating its win from the 2023 competition. Purdue University took second place, and Oakland University and Oregon State University tied in third place. Marine energy technologies harness the power of waves, tides, and ocean and river currents. The annual MECC, now in its fifth year, challenges multidisciplinary collegiate teams to develop solutions that can help power sectors in the blue economy, like aquaculture or ocean observation. Students gain hands-on experience by identifying markets for marine energy technologies and designing their own device.
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