Murkowski seeks to grow blue economy via more ocean innovation clusters

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently sponsored a bipartisan bill to formalize and expand a national network of ocean innovation clusters, which are hubs of operation and entrepreneurship designed to sustain and grow the maritime industry. 

“The U.S. is home to a number of burgeoning ocean clusters, including the Alaska Ocean Cluster, which have emerged as critical facilitators of blue economy development,” Sen. Murkowski said on March 25. “It’s time for the U.S. to catch up with our Arctic friends in Iceland and Norway who have long brought together public, private and academic stakeholders to create sustainable value in the maritime industry through existing and novel opportunities.” 

Sen. Murkowski on March 17 introduced the Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act of 2022, S. 3866, with six original cosponsors, including U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). 

If enacted, the bill would direct the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to establish ocean innovation clusters to bolster coastal communities and the nation’s blue economy via coordination among companies, tribes, municipalities, and other stakeholders.

“Clusters offer members physical workspaces — often including some sort of project incubation space — as well as networking, funding and investment opportunities,” explained Sen. Murkowski. “By boosting our existing clusters and creating new ones where they don’t exist, we are paving the way for some of Alaska’s most innovative minds to further advance Alaska’s blue economy — a significant and direct investment in our state.”

The legislation would require the Commerce Secretary, acting through the administrator of the U.S. Economic Development Agency and in consultation with the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to designate at least one ocean cluster in each of the five domestic NOAA fisheries regions and the Great Lakes region, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Murkowski’s office. 

The bill would also create grants for cluster operation and administration and one-time capital investments for physical infrastructure, the summary says.

S. 3866 is supported by the Alaska Ocean Cluster, Blue Ocean Gear, and PolArctic.