The Monterey Bay - A Leader in the Blue Economy

California’s blue economy is a +$50 billion industry. Today, marine science and the blue economy directly affect various business and government sectors such as offshore oil and gas production, national defense, seafloor exploration, communications, agriculture production, renewable energy, weather forecasting and fisheries to name a few.

On April 25 at the Monterey College of Law in Seaside, Ca. Congressman Sam Farr will join more than 20 marine science and trade promotion service experts as presenters and panelists at The Monterey Bay - a Leader in the Blue Economy event as part of the Brand Monterey Bay program. This conference is designed as an introduction and brief glimpse of the world leading marine science community of the Monterey Bay region. This event is the fourth conference on the Brand Monterey Bay (BMB) program and Congressman Sam Farr, who has spoken at the three previous BMB conferences, will give a special presentation about the Monterey Bay marine science community and some of the challenges and opportunities the region faces as a world leader in this sector.

For many years, in particular since its designation in 1992 as a National Marine Sanctuary, the Monterey Bay has led California's Blue Economy and has become a global leader in such sectors as abalone farming, aquaculture science, kelp farms research, climate change and sea level rise research and water quality, as well as other breakthrough marine technologies, products and services.

“The Marine Science community of the Monterey Bay is now ready to develop bilateral trade and investment opportunities with foreign organizations throughout the world that can address their Blue Economy challenges through joint ventures, licensing agreements and export opportunities with the Monterey Bay region’s world leading marine science community,” said Tony Livoti, President of MBITA/TradePort who is the lead organizer for the event.

"This event will be a great opportunity for Monterey Bay's marine science community to extend their existing collaborations around education and research into the business side of the blue economy," added Jeff Paduan, Professor of Oceanography and President of the Monterey Bay Crescent Ocean Research Consortium (MBCORC), which is serving as the technical organizer for the event.

A special afternoon session at the conference will feature an interactive roundtable with presentations and Q&A discussions between the conference attendees and the top public and private sector trade promotion service professionals in California who provide trade financing for exports as well as marketing, legal, logistic, advocacy, global trade educational services and private investment.

This marine science event is produced by the Monterey Bay International Trade Association (MBITA), TradePort.org and Brand Monterey Bay in association with MBCORC and is the fourth event in succession on branding and marketing the one-of-a-kind Monterey Bay region to the domestic and global marketplace.

In the coming year the Brand Monterey Bay program will feature other conferences on the Monterey Bay region’s world leading industries, i.e., tourism, agriculture/agro-technology and world language.