125th Edition
Hi everyone!
First, a reminder that submissions for Oceanic Global’s Short Film Festival are due on March 8th, and they have announced the film jury panel! Check out the incredible collaborators they have reviewing films here.
🌊 Catch you next week 🌊
News
Seaworthy Collective has unveiled Cohort 7 of its Ocean Enterprise Studio incubator, selecting a new group of early-stage ocean tech ventures working on solutions ranging from low-carbon shipping and sustainable seafood to marine data systems and climate resilience, and providing them with mentorship, funding access, and ecosystem support to accelerate their paths to commercial impact.
A new “Back to Blue Initiative” report finds that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are systematically underserved by global financing systems despite stewarding vast ocean resources, and argues that coordinated, regionally led delivery frameworks are essential to attract sustained investment, build long-term climate-resilient blue economies, and close persistent funding gaps that leave many SIDS vulnerable and dependent on short-term project grants.
A New Scientist report notes that results from a first-of-its-kind ocean alkalinity enhancement trial in the Gulf of Maine showed measurable carbon uptake with no detectable harm to marine life in the monitored period, offering early evidence to inform the emerging field of ocean-based carbon removal research.
The World Economic Forum’s Investing in “Blue Foods: Innovation and Partnerships for Impact 2026” report outlines how scaling sustainable blue food systems can drive nutrition, economic growth, climate resilience, and equitable development worldwide, with particular emphasis on unlocking the potential of fisheries, aquaculture, and aquatic plant sectors.
Soon to open applications to startups, Upwell is a milestones-based ocean innovation commercialization program run by Reciprocal Studio that helps early-stage marine tech startups in Latin America and the Caribbean move from prototype validation to real-world pilot deployments by connecting them with industry partners, catalytic funding, and practical support to scale impactful ocean solutions.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has received a $15 million grant from the Fund for Science and Technology (FFST) to expand deep-ocean observational capacity, support environmental DNA and biomolecular surveys, boost global Deep Argo monitoring, and enhance research beneath Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier to improve understanding of ocean change and climate processes.
SeaO₂, a Dutch climate-tech company pioneering direct ocean capture to lower dissolved CO₂ in seawater and boost the ocean’s capacity to absorb atmospheric carbon, is advancing from lab to field deployment with EU BlueInvest support. Through this, they will be receiving strategic coaching, investor readiness assistance, and network expansion that are helping position its scalable ocean-based carbon removal technology within Europe’s climate innovation ecosystem.
Opportunities
[DUE TOMORROW] The Ocean Discovery League is now accepting applications for the 2026 training and mentorship program for early-career professionals worldwide. They are currently focusing on participants from Africa and the Western Indian Ocean. Applications are open until March 4th.
Apply to the Ocean Innovation Africa conference from 23-25 March 2026 in Durban to develop your Blue Economy business in South Africa.
OceanHub Africa has opened applications for the 7th cohort of their accelerator program, which will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The first intake of the year (2026) begins in March.
SeaAhead has launched their “Pilot” program that aims to connect pilot-ready startups with real-world customers and end-users. This year’s theme is Coastal Resilience and Coastal Asset Protection. Apply by March 20th.
The Ocean Community Challenge 2026 has opened their applications, closing March 30th.
The newest iteration of UCSC’s Blue Pioneer’s program has been announced, this year taking place as a two week immersion acceleration in Zanzibar. Check here for more details.
Canada’s first blue economy accelerator Blue Action Canada has opened applications for their 2026 cohort.
Apply to Katapult’s Ocean Accelerator program that is designed to guide founders through complex entrepreneurial issues, add structure, and help raise a startup’s next round.
Fair Carbon has launched a Blue Carbon Academy that aims to help with the fine-tuning of the design of a Blue Carbon project.
Join the Blue Growth Community to get access to opportunities, expertise, and connections as an innovator.
Events
The 13th Annual World Ocean Summit & Expo will be occurring March 4th-5th in Montréal.
Join the Nature Tech Collective in the conversation “From Planting to Proof in Mangrove Restoration: Lessons from East Africa” on March 4th.
On Tuesday March 10th in St. Petersburg Florida, Seaworthy Collective and Climate First Bank will be hosting a “Coastal Resilience & Blue Economy Happy Hour”.
Impact for Breakfast is hosting a virtual session on March 12th at 9AM ET entitled “Building the Seaweed Value Chain: Scaling Ocean-Based Alternatives to Plastics” as the third part in their series “Making Complexity Investable: The Plastics Transition as a Systemic Case”
Hatch Blue and Bigelow Laboratory are cohosting the “North Atlantic Blue BioTech Summit” on March 19th in Portland, Maine.
Ocean Innovation Africa 2026 will be occurring March 23-25 in Durban, South Africa.
From April 28th – 30th, the Carbon to Sea Initiative will be having their annual convening in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The 7th World Conference for Marine Biodiversity will be taking place in Belgium 17-20 November 2026. You can register here.
Learning
The People Places Planet podcast discusses “Centering Equity in Ocean Governance” in their most recent episode with guests Yoshitaka Ota of Ocean Nexus and ELI Visiting Scholar Randall Abate.
A new Frontiers in Marine Science review outlines how the Global Ocean Observing System’s Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) framework provides the foundational, sustained observational backbone needed to monitor and understand changing ocean conditions for climate, ecosystems, and societal applications, while offering recommendations to strengthen coordination, transparency, and long-term impact of global ocean observations.
Companies doing the work
Pacific Hybreed first commercial shellfish breeding company in the U.S. enhancing yield based on science.