Page 79 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2021

Oyster Aquaculture. Atlantic Tripletail Research.
August 2021 | 79
operations and director of the Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center at USM, explains that by embracing the Blue Economy, the Gulf Coast is reinforcing its support for a multitude of areas. While shipbuilding and tourism may first come to mind, additional areas of the Blue Economy include aquaculture, cargo shipping, submersible vehicles, and homeland security. What was needed was a collective approach
to ensuring individual efforts were working efficiently for the common good.
Equally important to the Blue Economy is
a purposeful approach to marketing these strengths. As the driving force behind Blue Economy awareness, USM developed the Gulf Blue campaign, a strategy that would promote all the Blue Economy efforts along with its partners and those committed to guiding this initiative forward. Dr. Shannon Campbell, senior associate vice president for USM’s Coastal operations, asserts that by coming together under one united front, we can successfully market the Blue Economy goals on a national and international stage, directly benefiting our economy, in turn, benefitting
us all.
The waters of the Mississippi Sound and
the Gulf Coast are ripe with opportunities
that we should all endorse and promote. By recognizing these strengths and highlighting the areas where we do exceptionally well
the Gulf Coast economy will continue to flourish. The efforts of USM and many others have brought about a new awareness to our Blue Economy and Gulf Blue endeavors; by doing so, they are identifying, cultivating, and supporting all the “Big Ideas Out of the Blue!”
USM School of Ocean Science and Engineering 228.214.9010 www.usm.edu/ocean-science-engineering