Michael Conathan is an ocean policy and blue economy consultant who helped lead the work of Maine’s Blue Economy Task Force from 2024-2026. He lives in South Portland.

Maine has more coastline than any other state in the continental U.S., and the ocean is integral to our culture, communities and economy. Yet unlike many other states around the country, until the Legislature established the Blue Economy Task Force in 2024, we had not taken a comprehensive look into the future of our marine-related industries.

This spring, following two years of careful consideration, that work culminated with enactment of a law establishing a Maine Blue Economy Center.

Thanks to years of strong support from Maine Sen. Jill Duson, D-Portland, and Rep. Morgan Reilly, D-Westbrook, among others, the new center will be based at the Maine Technology Institute and support Maine businesses and entrepreneurs from Kittery to Calais to Caribou.

Its work will encompass obvious and well-established industries like seafood, shipping and recreation and tourism and support advancements in emerging fields such as marine biotechnology and electrification. Its scope will reach inland as well.

Consider the potential for wood products and composites to build boats and working waterfront infrastructure, or the possibility of farming fish in land-based facilities like shuttered pulp and paper mills.

Mainers are fortunate to have built our lives in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Yet we also know our home is changing. The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than almost any other body of water, forcing shifts in species populations, and those who work on the water already know that when nature changes, they must also adapt.

The northern shrimp fishery has been closed for over a decade, a direct casualty of ocean warming. Our historic groundfish industry is all but gone. According to the Department of Marine Resources, in 2024 the value of cod, haddock and flounder caught in Maine was less than the value of bloodworms. Our signature lobster populations are declining from the record highs of recent years. All as increases in extreme weather events and sea level rise damage our coastal infrastructure with increasing frequency.

Our social and economic realities are changing too. The rise of lightning speed internet has created opportunities for remote work, and Maine has become a popular destination. As others discover our quality of life, they want a piece of it, and many of them want to live near the water. That soaring demand is an existential threat to the fabric of our coastal communities.

If Mainers want to prevent our Vacationland brand from pigeonholing waterfront towns as seasonal communities and remote work havens with bucolic zoom backgrounds, we must be more proactive about developing new products, markets and skills to enhance the future of our legacy industries like fishing, aquaculture and boatbuilding.

Enter the Blue Economy Center. Organizations in other parts of the country and around the world have shown what’s possible when the ocean innovation community comes together to attract investment, train a workforce suited to emerging industries and ensure local values are represented in decision-making.

Rhode Island has already leaned hard into its Ocean State brand. It created a Grow Blue strategy to prioritize economic development in three sectors: aquaculture and fisheries, defense and offshore renewable energy. Over a dozen other states have invested in similar strategic development, and many of them have leveraged that commitment into additional federal and philanthropic funding.

Each of the past three presidential administrations has infused millions into these blue economy initiatives, including over $50 million in ocean accelerator grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2024. Alaska alone received a $49 million Build Back Better grant in 2023 to support its seaweed industry.

Despite our world class universities, laboratories and businesses, Maine has been shut out of this funding, largely because we lacked the infrastructure to coordinate action. The Blue Economy Center gives us the opportunity to put ourselves and our 3,500 miles of coastline back at the forefront of the national ocean economic conversation.

Some Maine businesses are already demonstrating what this future could look like: Skin care creams concocted from seaweed and byproducts of lobster processing. Kelp-based plastic alternatives, agricultural products, food and supplements. Boats built from wood polymers and powered by clean, quiet electric motors. Networks of data buoys improving weather and oceanographic forecasting at a fraction of the cost of older systems. But without state support and the chance to attract outside investment, they face serious economic headwinds.

Our coastline is steeped in history, legacy and tradition. That tremendous asset flows like salt water through our veins. And as the marine environment changes beneath our boats’ hulls, this is the time to leverage emerging opportunities to solidify Maine’s ocean future.