Blue Biotechnology, Renewable Energy, Unconventional Resources and Products as Emerging Frontiers at Sea

Abstract

Blue biotechnology, renewable energy and unconventional marine living resources are considered as emerging frontiers for enhancing ocean-based blue economy in Bangladesh. Blue biotechnology can help both fisheries and aquaculture industry by producing fish varieties that can become quicker, more beneficial, and greater with tastier flesh, by developing gene transfer technology to be used to develop the growth of fish or by using of monoclonal antibodies and DNA probes to new diagnostic strategies for pathogens. Transformation of marine bioresources (main, co-product and by-products) into food, medicine, animal feed and related biobased items i.e. cosmetics, nutritional supplements, enzymes, agrichemicals etc could help in meet the Bangladesh future challenges for the 21st century. Given that majority of conventional living resources is facing over-exploitation, non-conventional marine living resources, specifically mollusk (squids, oyster, mussel), seaweeds, marine echinoderms, marine micro algae and others can be utilized as a source of new fishery products that could straightforwardly consumed as nutritionally balanced marine food. In terms of non-living resource, renewable energy comes from hydro power, solar, biogas and wind, however, tide and wave energy have good potential. Towards sustainable utilization of these sector-specific resources there are several challenges, such as little knowledge about their current status, limited focus by policy makers. To escape this situation, marine policy relatives must have to include the marine fisheries, mariculture, marine food, health, natural resources and industrial application. Research activities can create information to advise the policy and strategy, which thus stimulates future development by informing how the marine environment can be monitored and managed reasonably and realize its role in giving ecological facilities to the country as well as the world. This research article is available in Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics: https://cbe.miis.edu/joce/vol6/iss2/8