Marine Technology & Aquaculture

Marine Technology & Aquaculture

Aquaculture exhibits the characteristics of a sustainable cluster. The markers for its products are strong and could grow significantly, given the world’s demand for seafood and the severe pressures on capture fisheries. It is a technically complex industry that still faces a number of challenges in mimicking the functions of natural ecosystems to grow and sustain organisms, but a robust research and skills base exists in Maine to meet these challenges. Marine research is strong in Maine, but commercial technology developments emerging from that research have lagged behind other states. The strength of the research foundation in Maine, together with growth in demand for technologies related to ocean observing and measurement over the next decades, means that clusters may yet emerge from this sector.