Minister for the Blue Economy Dean Jonas says the benefits of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding MOU with Odyssey Marine Exploration for a Sustainable Seabed Resource Development Program, is enormous.
Jonas explained how exactly the country is expected to benefit from this project.
“We are seeking to build businesses in the ocean using our ocean resources. We know that in Asia there is a lot of farming going on in the ocean for plants and animal, in Europe there is a lot of ocean-based energy resources that are being exploited,” Jonas said.
“What we are doing now is that we are seeking to do the same thing in our ocean space that is quite large for Antigua and Barbuda. We are seeking opportunities in ocean farming, energy and in other areas where the opportunities might exist to enable us to exploit the opportunities, create economic opportunities for our people and essentially to build our blue economy businesses in the ocean.”
The Minister says there are benefits for Odyssey Marine Exploration as well.
“The MOU that we sign with them is to do a mapping exercise in our ocean space. This will provide us with a lot of data on sources that exist in our ocean space. One of the things they will be looking at is our ocean current. This has potential because the ocean current will let us know the possibility for energy production. The other thing is the type of fishery opportunities that may exist in our waters.”
”The key benefit is that the data will enable them to determine what investments they want to make in whatever opportunity they come up with in the water,” Jonas expressed.
