Bluetide PR launches acceleration initiative for ‘Blue Economy’ projects in PR/USVI
Puerto Rico will finally sit at the table of the global discussion on the Blue Economy tied to the sea, with the Bluetide Puerto Rico marine innovation program, and its initiative “Blue my Mind” with more than $400,000 to be distributed for promoting sustainable development projects tied to the ocean.
“Blue my Mind” seeks to identify and support innovative initiatives with projects tied to the ocean that help in the creation and development of new industries related to the sea. The chosen initiatives will be provided with logistics, materials and support to promote concepts, prototypes and pilot projects.
The deadline for submitting proposals will be March 31, 2021, before 11:59 p.m. via email.
The companies, communities, students or entrepreneurs that are eligible applicants who wish to present their development proposals tied to the sea only have to access this link and process everything online.
“We should not see our coasts as a border where Puerto Rico ends. We have to learn to see the sea as an extension of our island towards broader borders that can give us enormous economic development,” said Guifre Tort, co-founder of Bluetide Puerto Rico.
Blue Economy innovation spans through a broad spectrum of industries and technologies, large and small, that can promote sustainable ocean activities that create a sustainable economy.
Bluetide established the first ocean-related innovation program in the United States in the Caribbean in Puerto Rico to assist in the creation, early development and initial scaling of new solutions targeting a key segment of the Blue Economy, for example:
- Mariculture and aquaculture
- Molecular Marine Biology
- Marine bioprospecting
- Fish aggregation devices (FAD)
- Management of oceanic space
- Blue Technology
The Federal Administration for Economic Development was responsible for granting funds for this promotion and development of the Blue Economy of Puerto Rico and the American Caribbean.
The costs of inaction in the two dozen island nations and territories of the Caribbean, with its 40 million people, make us particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Studies project losses of $22 billion by 2050 — or 10% of the region’s Gross Domestic Product, analyzing average damage from hurricanes, tourism losses, and infrastructure damage due to sea level rises.
