October 2023 Edition
A monthly round-up of news and trends important to the AltaSea community.
October 2023 Edition
A monthly round-up of news and trends important to the AltaSea community.
AltaSea’s Blue Hour connects science, culture and community by cultivating immersive experiences through multi-disciplinary arts. From global to local, creators and innovators chronicle the vision of a Blue Economy, telling the stories of the ocean, the humanity of those devoted to its preservation and future. Blue Hour supports AltaSea’s Project Blue, which offers students a voice in supporting LA as the center of the Blue Economy through education, career opportunity, access to access to arts and culture.
This year’s Blue Hour Guest Curator is American interdisciplinary artist, Kim Abeles whose artworks explore the environment, biography, geography and feminism. Kim has curated an exhibition featuring installations, ceramics, video, glass, photography, sound, and painting by over 20 artists. Below is a sneak peak of 4 artists work this year.
Blue Hour: Above and Below will celebrate both local and global trailblazers who are paving the path for innovation in the blue economy, as well as feature over 20 local and global artists. The event will take place on October 14, with doors opening at 5 PM for the art gallery and the awards ceremony starting at 7 PM.
The Host Committee for AltaSea’s fourth annual Blue Hour includes former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; renowned ocean explorers Sylvia Earle, Dr. Bob Ballard, and Ashlan and Phillippe Cousteau; and nonprofit leader Barbara Stanton.
In line with this year’s theme of “Women Stewarding the Ocean”, AltaSea will recognize four women who have made remarkable contributions to the blue economy:
Explorer Award: Kim Butts, Avatar Alliance Foundation
Innovation Award: Inna Braverman, founder & CEO of Eco Wave Power
NextGen Award: Dr. Patricia Ramos, Dean of Academic Affairs at Santa Monica College
Cornerstone Award: Camilla Townsend, AltaSea Founding Chair
Title: Degenerative Cultures
Title: Migrations (Spoonbills)
Title: Ny Alesund II
Title: Urban Rebutia
Monday, November 6th, 8am-4pm
Tuesday, November 7th, 8am-4pm
Are you an educator looking to embark on a journey to inspire the next generation of ocean explorers and innovators? This course offers a unique opportunity to expand your knowledge, network with fellow educators, and gain practical skills to inspire your students in the realm of Ocean STEM and Marine Robotics.
(**$250 to teachers that attend**)
Please join us at our AltaSea Campus located at 2451 South Signal Street, San Pedro, CA 90731
The scientific properties of hydrogen enable clean energy production and storage, businesses involved in the hydrogen sector drive economic growth and diversification, and the social value of hydrogen lies in its ability to reduce environmental impact, provide energy access, and contribute significantly to mitigating climate change. Embracing hydrogen technologies thus represents a powerful convergence of scientific innovation, economic opportunity, and social progress.
December 4-6, 2023
Now in its fourth year, Catalyst H2™ is an inspiring gathering, hosted by Strategen with the Green Hydrogen Coalition, connecting change agents and market makers to accelerate North America’s green hydrogen (GH2) economy. By deepening collaboration across the GH2 ecosystem, Catalyst H2 is creating a collective vision to speed progress on near-term actions that achieve the needed innovation in policy and market design, technology implementation, commercial project development, and community impact to help realize a clean and just energy transition.
Governor Newsom Signs AltaSea-Sponsored Wave Energy Legislation into Law (businesswire.com)
The bill – introduced by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) and sponsored by AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles – directs the California Energy Commission to work with various state agencies and stakeholders to assess the feasibility, costs, and potential of deploying wave and tidal energy technology across California’s coastline.
“Ocean energy is one of the largest untapped sources of renewable energy, and California is now well-positioned to harness that energy and accelerate our transition to 100% clean energy while creating high-paying jobs. I thank Governor Newsom for signing this important legislation into law,” said Senator Padilla.
CorPower Ocean collaborates with AltaSea for US expansion (waterpowermagazine.com)
Swedish wave energy firm CorPower Ocean has entered into a significant partnership with AltaSea, the leading blue economy research and development center in the US. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed at the Port of Los Angeles, signifies CorPower Ocean’s strategic move to pave the way for its expansion into the American market.
Under the terms of the agreement, CorPower Ocean will gain access to AltaSea’s expansive 35-acre campus strategically located at the nation’s busiest seaport. This collaboration aims to facilitate the development of cutting-edge ocean energy solutions within the American market.
This announcement aligns with the US’ ongoing efforts to promote the integration of renewable energy sources, fueled by a substantial $369 billion investment in climate and energy programs through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Furthermore, California, where the partnership is based, has passed legislation specifically enabling the deployment of wave energy with unanimous and rare bi-partisan support in its Senate.
Climate Week: USC’s Aquaculture Lab at AltaSea (Fox11.com)
This is USC’s expensive 60,000 square foot aquaculture lab, where they are growing kelp, seaweed and more. This is right next door to Holdfast Aquaculture, which grows mussels and creates locally sourced mussel seed for the entire Pacific Southwest. One of their offshoots, called “AltaSeads Conservancy,” is developing into the world’s leading organization in kelp restoration, breeding, farming, and education. They are the largest holder of ocean biodiversity outside of Korea.
Rising Tide #92 – Terry Tamminen’s AltaSea (bluefront.org)
On this episode of Rising Tide we talk with Terry Tamminen, President and CEO of AltaSea in the Port of Los Angeles. The former Waterkeeper, head of California EPA and longtime Climate advisor tells us about this unique ‘Blue Economy Hub.’ Hear what AltaSea is doing to scale up Ocean Climate Solutions through innovation, education and sustainable business startups focused on clean energy and aquaculture, all of it taking place in the heart of the Western hemisphere’s largest port complex.
Exploring Iconic Battle of Midway Shipwrecks (YouTube.com)
From September 8-12, 2023, an interdisciplinary, interagency, and international team led by Ocean Exploration Trust aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus had the honor and privilege to conduct in-depth archaeological assessments of three World War II aircraft carriers lost during the Battle of Midway. Our exploration resulted in the first visual survey of Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Akagi 赤城, the first detailed views of United States Ship Yorktown since it was first located 25 years ago, and a comprehensive survey of IJN Kaga 加賀. These historically significant wrecks were explored in their final resting places within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the largest protected area in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.
Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai outline green shipping corridor plan (Porttechnology.org)
The three ports deem this proposal as a significant step towards decarbonising the global supply networks that power our economy and moving to zero-carbon-emission ships.
It intends to highlight cutting-edge goods movement technology, decarbonisation applications, and best management practises to improve efficiency.
As part of the historic agreement, the carrier partners will begin deploying reduced lifetime carbon capable ships in the corridor by 2025, and will collaborate to demonstrate the possibility of deploying the world’s first zero lifecycle carbon emission containerships by 2030.
Sustainable sourcing of aquafeeds explored in new report (Thefishsite.com)
The report, published by aquaculture and sustainability expert Aisla Jones as part of a Nuffield Farming scholarship, explores the growing issue of the sustainability of aquafeed ingredients, which may account for up to 90% of the environmental impacts and carbon footprint of aquaculture production.
During her study, Aisla visited 6 countries, exploring the environmental impacts of traditional and ‘alternative’ aquafeed ingredients and identified opportunities for retailers and seafood supply chains to support more sustainable feed ingredient production and use.
Scientists Crack Case of Whales With Kelp Hats (explorersweb.com)
Previous scientific studies noted that whales sometimes play with seaweed, but these seemed to be rare events in the same places: where kelp and whale watching are both common.
Now, a research team has been able to study the behavior across a wider region. They have used drones to film whales along the east coast of Australia, capturing aerial footage of them playing with the kelp. They also studied social media posts of “kelping” from the northeast Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans. Their findings suggest that kelping is a global phenomenon.
The Coral Reef Breakthrough (coralbreakthrough.org)
The world has lost 14 percent of the coral on its coral reefs since 2009 and with ever-increasing pressures from climate change, the window for protecting these ecosystems is closing rapidly. To reverse this downward trajectory, we must accelerate resources and action to stop local and global drivers of decline, and scale cost-efficient solutions to enable the survival and recovery of resilient coral reefs on a global scale.
Press Release, Adroit Market Research – An in-depth and logical investigation of the worldwide Aquaculture market results in a detailed, verified, and thoroughly researched study report that covers significant aspects of the global Aquaculture market such as supply chain, marketing and promotion, product or venture development, and price structure. The study incorporates a balanced qualitative and quantitative assessment of the complete Aquaculture market, which is further split into distinct component aspects backed by comparable diagnostic methodologies.
A celebrity-studded L.A. water district has a very big drought idea: Seafloor desalination (LATimes.com)
A water district best known for supplying the celebrity-studded enclaves of Calabasas and Hidden Hills could soon become famous for a very different reason.
The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District recently partnered with California-based OceanWell to study the feasibility of harvesting drinking water from desalination pods placed on the ocean floor, several miles off the coast of California.
The pilot project, which will begin in Las Virgenes’ reservoir near Westlake Village, hopes to establish the nation’s first-ever “blue water farm.”
Investing in life below water is an investment in all sustainable development goals (blogs.edf.org)
During New York Climate Week, climate leaders will gather together to make essential decisions to mitigate the effects of climate change. It is critical that our oceans are a priority.
The ocean is profoundly underfunded, and yet it is absolutely vital to billions of lives around the world and climate resilience. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, “Life Below Water,” is the least funded of the SDGs — despite the fact that it can support all of the other Sustainable Development Goals. Without serious investment in our oceans, we risk missing the mark overall.
Blue is The New Color of Sustainable Investing (researchblog.duke.edu)
The green bond market’s remarkable success, currently valued at over US $500 billion[i], shows how bond finance is an effective way to raise substantial capital for climate-related investments. Following on this success, blue bonds are emerging as the newest trend in sustainability investing and they’re poised to make waves.
How Investable & Sustainable Ocean Funds Are Navigating Impact Measurement (finance.yahoo.com)
Blue economy funds have experienced dramatic growth in the past half decade, with nearly thirty new entrants – ten or so of them in 2022 alone. This is good news, as it signals both growing investor interest in the sector and an increasing pipeline of investable opportunities. As this ocean investment ecosystem evolves, the question of how to measure impact in investments has become a frequent topic of discussion.
USDA funding research developing low-cost white spot syndrome test for shrimp farmers (seafoodsource.com)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided a USD 175,000 (EUR 165,000) grant to the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute (GMGI) and Sherlock Biosciences to aid their research into diagnostic tools for pathogens that affect aquaculture, with an initial focus on white spot syndrome.
The grant, made through the USDA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, is part of the phase-one awards of USD 12.5 million (EUR 11.8 million) in USDA small business funding that has been divided across 76 businesses. The SBIR program funds a range of small businesses across multiple technology areas that are addressing scientific challenges in agriculture and aquaculture.
$15 million to MSU-led Fish Innovation Lab extends global food security pursuits through aquatic systems (misstate.edu)
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University has received a five-year, up to $15 million extension for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish to address global food security challenges through aquatic food systems.
“Feed the Future Innovation Labs are driving novel solutions to the increasingly complex challenges we face today,” said Dina Esposito, Feed the Future Deputy Coordinator and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant to the Administrator for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security. “USAID is pleased to continue this partnership and advance the Fish Innovation Lab’s critical contribution to support small-scale fishers and their communities.”
SoCal trash ‘interceptor’ keeping thousands of pounds of garbage from reaching ocean (nbclosangeles.com)
The California coast, considered by so many to be a treasure, is now struggling with the threat of pollution.
In Los Angeles County, an innovative device is collecting trash to stop waste from reaching the ocean. This “trash interceptor,” stationed in Venice Beach, is one of only 11 in the world – and the only one in North America.
Just this year, piles and piles of trash have washed up on Southern California beaches after recent storms. “We need to get this under control,” said Joost Dubois, spokesperson for The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands hat aims to develop technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastics.