A NEXT STEP TOWARDS THE BLUE REVOLUTION

Had lunch yesterday with a colleague from Norway, Lars Golmen, and his family.  We mostly talked about world affairs and our past.  However, the discussion eventually settled on next generation fisheries, ocean thermal energy conversion, the Blue Revolution, and our possible plans to re-establish a global plan to accomplish these various tasks.

Lars was the organizer in Norway, with Steven Masutani of Hawaii, for the Bergen Declaration.

THE BERGEN DECLARATION ON NEXT GENERATION FISHERIES 

November 15, 2005

Whereas, fishing fleets need to travel greater distances for diminishing catches.

Whereas, some aquacultured products may suffer from the concentration of chemical toxins or drugs, and may be affected by diseases.

Whereas, the consumption of seafood is increasing relative to beef, chicken and pork, being stimulated by the growing human population and recognized nutritional benefits of bioproducts from the sea.

Whereas, the seafood industry faces increasing challenges posed by fish stock depletion worldwide and international fishing regulations.

Whereas, public forums and hearings on fisheries throughout the world focus primarily on developing measures to conserve natural marine stocks and associated sanctions for violators.

As all world fisheries are in various stages of decline, resulting in increased competition, rising seafood prices, and overall degradation of marine ecosystems.

But, that:

• 40% of all fish currently caught come from less than one percent of the ocean, where natural upwelling occurs and

• at depths below about 500 meters, cold deep ocean water with attractively high concentrations of nutrients ideally suited to promote growth in the photic zone if brought to the surface is readily available.

  The conferees, recognizing that:

  • the ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) technology which utilizes large volumes of deep ocean water can also be applied to power and fertilize the growth cycle for Next Generation Fisheries (NGF) in the open ocean in artificial marine systems which feeds themselves only with the additional input of solar energy; and

  • a range of developmental initiatives, including caged offshore mariculture and the associated state-of-the-art technologies, will need to be explored and supported in a step-by-step bridging strategy to achieve artificial-upwelling- driven NGF.

    Contact information:
    Stephen Masutani, Hawaii: stephenm@hawaii.edu Lars Golmen, Norway: lars.golmen@niva.no 

This next generation fisheries agreement actually proceeded to step 2, a follow-up gathering in Tokyo to further build international cooperation.  Unfortunately, the activity subsequently stalled.

The future of fishing and seafood, of course, is just one facet of the Blue Revolution, powered by ocean thermal energy conversion, or OTEC.  Since that Bergen summit, I have published articles in the Huffington Post to popularize this possible future:

• The Coming of OTEC
• The Dawn of the Blue Revolution
• Blue Revolution
• The Blue Revolution is the Optimal Solution for Japan

More recently, I gave a TEDx talk entitled, The Time for the Blue Revolution is now.  You can watch the 18 minute presentation (the TED organizers have an absolute requirement that no lectures can exceed that limit).  Twelve years ago I also made a presentation to the Seasteading Institute in San Francisco on exactly what the blue revolution plant ship would look like when built and operated.  We only lack $150 million to get this started.  Governments nor companies will do this.  We seek an enlightened billionaire.

A group of us around a dozen years ago formed Blue Revolution Hawaii to find that billionaire.  Here is the Story of the Blue Revolution, some other details, and a blog site for billionaires.  Progress has stalled, so the lunch I had with Lars could well lead to an upgrade in activity.

Lars thought that we might want to work with OTEA, headed by president Yasu Ikegami and secretary Benjamin Martin.  OTEA, for Ocean Thermal Energy Association, has 500 members from 48 countries and regions.  Lars is on their executive committee.

Here is a photo taken 11 years ago of Saga University Professor Yasu Ikegami, (at the top) with Tokyo University Professor Masayuki Takahashi to the right and me.

Masayuki wrote a book on deep ocean water applications, while I did one on OTEC.  My cover, showing the name of co-author Andrew Trenka.

The book was sponsored by UNESCO of the United Nations, following a 2003 lecture I gave them in Paris.

Both Takahashi professors are now long retired, but there is OTEA and new energy.  Lars will meet some of their representatives when he next goes to Japan.

But about our Orchids lunch at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, some photos.

I started with a Japanese version of a Bloody Mary, then a glass of Chardonnay with the Halekulani fish special.

Incidentally, there is another Blue Revolution web page.  After Joe Biden's debate performance, this organization needs a lot of help.

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