Australia’s Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre

Abstract With an Exclusive Economic Zone of 10 million square kilometers, Australia has enormous potential to use its oceans to sustainably increase seafood and renewable energy production. However, to realize this potential, these industries must move offshore into more exposed high-energy operating environments. This move will involve the development of new more robust structures, technologies, and production systems that require less maintenance with increased autonomation, as well as new planning and regulatory frameworks to provide industry confidence to make long-term investments and community confidence that the operations will be environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. This emergence will only be possible through innovations in our knowledge-based digital economy, the “new blue economy.” The Blue Economy Cooperative Research Center (CRC) brings together national and international expertise in aquaculture, marine renewable energy, and maritime engineering, as part of a single, collaborative research center. Through integration of the knowledge and expertise across these sectors, this CRC paves the way for innovative, commercially viable, and sustainable offshore developments and new capabilities that will see significant increases in renewable energy output, seafood production, and jobs that will transform the future of Australia’s traditional blue economy industries.