In Plymouth, The Plymouth Foundation hosts the fourth annual Blue Future Conference at Hotel 1620 on Thursday, the 16th. And according to Stephen Cole, Executive Director of the Plymouth Regional Economic Development Foundation, this is an event to promote Plymouth as a leader in the marine economy. TV personality on science and engineering, Bill Nye was the featured special guest at the conference.
WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more….
Stephen Cole, Director of the Economic Development Foundation talks about the purpose of the conference:
“The purpose of this is to establish Plymouth as leader in blue economy throughout the Commonwealth. But also, want to raise awareness of the work force development programs that we have prepared and also to establish higher paying, high growth potential jobs in Plymouth within the marine economy sectors.”
What role does aquaculture play in the blue economy, and how important is kelp?
“Kelp is a really important part of the aquaculture, but Plymouth is also, I think the third largest producer of oysters in the whole state. So aquaculture is absolutely a cornerstone for the blue economy here in Plymouth.
And concerning the ocean, featured speaker Bill Nye says:
“I’m all hot for using ocean pressure to desalinate ocean water in a non-catastrophic way. I would love to have a turbine system that could exploit the very small differences in temperature from the surface and deep ocean. But the other thing is everybody is interested in aqua-culture and you want to manage the fisheries so you don’t damage the ocean ecosystem. And, understand, we’re going to have an effect on it. We’re going to effect the ocean. We have to manage our effect—just like a farm.
In Plymouth, Bobbi Clark, WATD News.