Last week, we left the Blue Foods Forum so excited about the blue economy. What’s a blue economy? It’s a plan for sustainable use of ocean and marine resources for economic growth, jobs, and improved livelihoods while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems.
ORKA is at the forefront of Oregon’s blue economy through our Oregon Kelp Forest Stewardship Initiative, funded by NOAA Fisheries through a $2.251 million grant administered by the Restoration Center at the Office of Habitat Conservation
The project began in May of 2025, and by September, we used these grant monies to support over 4,500 hours of gainful employment and 110 hours of living wage work for commercial sea urchin divers. At the same time, these divers are developing new expertise in restoration techniques alongside traditional harvest operations. Not only are these fishermen working but they’re also being trained with skills that will help them further their careers in this new blue economy.
In that same time frame, we’ve also trained 24 community volunteer “Kelp Forest Defenders”. These defenders learn employable skills through training like scientific diving, ecological monitoring, and restoration techniques— with real hands-on field work.
All of this restoration work has informed where and how we’re cultivating kelp and harvesting urchins, supporting habitat restoration and creating market-based solutions to turn an environmental challenge into an economic opportunity. Products developed in this system include urchin roe (uni) and numerous kelp products (pickles, livestock feed, fertilizers, etc.), adding even more dollars back into Oregon’s coastal communities and blue economy.
And we’ve got the data to back it up. Within one field season in 2025, we’ve been able to:
- Remove +327,000 urchins
- 32 bull kelps planted, 19 reached reproductive maturity, adding spores to multiple restoration sites
- Documented wild kelp and sunflower sea star returns
- Relocated 24 critically endangered sunflower sea stars into restoration site
- Built a collaborative model bringing together scientists, Tribal members, commercial divers, volunteers, and state agencies
This is just the beginning. What started as an urgent need to restore our kelp forests has evolved into a blueprint for how environmental restoration and economic opportunity can work hand in hand. As we move forward, every urchin removed, every kelp planted, and every person trained represents not just a healthier ocean, but a more resilient coastal economy. The blue economy isn’t just a concept anymore, it’s happening right here in Oregon’s oceans.