Opinion: Maine’s Blue Economy will form its future

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 30, 2026

For thousands of years, the Gulf of Maine has sustained our communities — we have harvested these waters, building our lives around its tides and seasons. Maine’s coastal communities have reinvented themselves, to innovate and adapt. The almost $6.8 billion in economic activity and 90,000 jobs supported by Maine’s ocean-related businesses are dynamic and reflect an economy that is changing. The Blue Economy Task Force 2.0 identified five opportunity for growth in Maine: aquaculture and marine vegetation, marine biotechnology, ocean data and research, resilient coastal infrastructure and sustainable boatbuilding and marine propulsion. Maine’s first Blue Economy Week (Sept. 29-Oct. 2) is a way to have scientists, investors, students, fishermen and educators come together to chart our course. To collectively ask: How do we build upon what Maine already does well while continuing to innovate to meet this moment? ~ Rhiannon Hampson, Gulf of Maine Research Institute