NEWS
The Eureka Slough during a 2019 king tide event gives a glimpse of what sea-level rise will look like around Humboldt Bay. File
Toward a Sustainable Blue Economy Symposium focuses on harnessing the promise of the coast By Elaine Weinreb
newsroom@northcoastjournal.com
T
he perennial conflict between environmental conservation and economic development may now be in remission, the crisis of climate change increasingly pushing industries into cooperation with environmental goals. One such path of co-existence, at least along the California coast, is the “Sustainable Blue Economy,” defined by the World Bank as the “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems.” A three-day symposium on the “Sustainable Blue Economy” was held virtually last week, sponsored by California Sea Grant, the Humboldt Bay Initiative and several local consulting firms. The symposium featured scientists, community activists and an economist, as well as government officials of all denominations, ranging from county planners to the head of a state agency. The keynote speaker was Wade Crowfoot, secretary of California’s Natural Resources Agency, an umbrella agency that supervises the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Ocean Protection Council, the Coastal Commission, the Coastal Conservancy and numerous other environmental agencies. People identify climate action with electric vehicles or solar panels on roofs, Crowfoot said, but we also need to elevate the role of nature in helping us
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NORTH COAST JOURNAL • Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021 • northcoastjournal.com
combat the climate crisis. “Humboldt Bay is one of the most beautiful places in the world,” Crowfoot said. “However, it faces different challenges than any other area in the state. Coastal communities face a daunting set of threats, and need resources … so that these communities can continue to thrive decades into the future, even as climate effects intensify.” Crowfoot noted that the budget signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week includes $15 billion for climate action. “We have the leadership, we have the resources and we have some very clear targets to achieve,” he said, praising the proposed offshore wind farm, which he said would be located 17 miles off the coast, with no impacts on the viewshed, and minimal impacts to fishermen. Humboldt Bay is also becoming a hub of ocean-related products. Already producing 70 percent of the state’s oysters, the harbor has also started developing seaweed farms. “Last year, Humboldt State University established the first commercial seaweed farm in Humboldt Bay,” said Rafael Cuevas Uribe, associate professor of the Fisheries Biology Department at HSU, adding that the university is the only place in California where a student can prepare for a career in fisheries biology with a concentration on aquaculture. He noted that this was a good opportunity for local farmers, instead of
mega-corporations, to take charge. “In Arcata we know that local businesses are the key,” he said. “That’s what I want to create in Humboldt Bay.” Marine scientist Karin Gray, a consultant with GreenWave, discussed seaweed farming as a nature-based solution that can help regenerate the ocean ecosystem, while creating jobs and providing food. Gray noted that the farm has already had two successful harvests of dulse, a commercially valuable seaweed. Next year, HSU hopes to start a bull kelp farm. “Bull kelp was an obvious choice, not only because it was growing naturally in the Bay, but also because of the unprecedented decline of California’s kelp forests,” said Uribe. According to an HSU publication, kelp can be used for human consumption, animal feed, agricultural fertilizer and as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastic. The loss of the kelp forests was described during the next day of the conference by Sarah Gravem, an ecologist at Oregon State University. Starfish, or sea stars, to use their proper name, have almost disappeared along the Pacific Coast over the past several years, resulting in drastic changes to the underwater coastal ecosystem (“The Plight of the Abalone,” March 8, 2018). Victims of a gruesome viral disease, the sea stars once visible in every tide pool have died off, allowing their chief prey, the sea urchin, to grow and multiply without restraint. Sea ur-
