The northern coastline of Long Island Sound is one of Connecticut’s greatest assets, drawing millions of beachgoers and recreational boaters, and nurturing a sprawling aquaculture sector, from shellfishing to kelp farming.

Known collectively as the “blue economy,” these industries contribute over $5 billion annually to the state. 

But the Sound, like most of Earth’s natural resources, is under growing threats from floods and storms resulting from the changing climate. Excessive runoff during severe weather events streams into the sound, carrying pollutants like engine oil, tire additives, animal feces, fertilizer and discharged toxins from industrial sites. At the same time, storm surges can inundate neighborhoods and marinas, pushing upstream into rivers and tributaries, causing billions of dollars in damage.

To address those challenges — and to not only preserve but develop the state’s blue economy — Sen. Chris Murphy has laid out a plan encompassing nearly two dozen proposals for new or expanded federal investment.

“Rising sea levels and temperatures combined with the more severe and frequent storms hitting the Northeast have put the Sound and those who rely on it at increased risk,” Murphy writes in the Long Island Sound Investment Plan 2.0, slated to be released this week, which advances and scales up an effort he first laid out eight years ago. 

“We’ve made major strides toward a cleaner, more resilient Sound in the last decade, but there’s more work to be done,” Murphy writes. “To build on that progress, we need a new vision and new goals that are aligned with the Sound’s current challenges.”

Murphy’s plan highlights several proposed bills he’s cosponsored, including the Reinvesting In Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act, the Working Waterfronts Preservation Act and the Supporting Healthy Interstate Fisheries in Transition (SHIFT) Act.

He also calls for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for initiatives ranging from water monitoring and offshore wind research to disaster resiliency, aquaculture, beach protection, port infrastructure and climate education programs.

Bill Lucey, who serves as the Long Island “soundkeeper” with conservation and advocacy group Save the Sound, said the health of Connecticut’s coastline — and its associated industries — has ebbed and flowed. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Sound “was in really rough shape,” he said, with poor water quality leading to the widespread dying-off of fish and lobster, particularly in the western end of the Sound.

Over the last 25 years, state and federal efforts — along with billions of dollars in funding — have improved water treatment compliance, and Lucey said the water quality in the Sound has improved markedly (though the lobster population hasn’t recovered). 

Still, Lucey said, “We’re starting to see some backsliding.” Major rain events, and the stormwater they produce, frequently force beaches to close and shellfish operations to temporarily shut down until the polluted water dissipates. Lucey said that translates into significant losses for the tourism and aquaculture sectors. 

Lucey was in attendance at a roundtable event hosted by Murphy late last month in Milford, where dozens of businesses and nonprofits discussed their efforts — and their concerns — surrounding the future of the blue economy. 

One of those efforts, the CT Blue Economy Coalition, was established just this year to foster collaboration and sustainable growth in the sector through education, investment and advocacy. Its founding members include the Southeastern CT Enterprise Region (seCTer) and Mystic Seaport Museum, as well as business incubator ClimateHaven, ocean farming initiative GreenWave, marine data services company ThayerMahan and research organizations OceanX, Project Oceanology and UConn Avery Point.

Christina Brophy, senior vice president at Mystic Seaport Museum, said the group aims to foster “thinking about alternative solutions to major global issues, where there’s not only room for profit, but there’s room for curiosity, for love of the oceans, for being able to invest in a company and still sleep well at night.” Last week, its members held a follow-up meeting with Murphy’s staff to discuss funding for their work.

Over the next 12 months, the coalition is planning a series of five public workshops hosted by members from different parts of the blue economy on topics ranging from ocean exploration to aquaculture to education. Brophy said she hopes the workshops will “get the word out” about the coalition “and allow people the opportunity to meet each other, to collaborate, to accelerate and to support a sustainable blue economy in Connecticut.”

Haley Lieberman, a coalition member and director of marketing at ClimateHaven, said since her business incubator launched in New Haven last year, she’s seen investor support and momentum surge.

“Climate technology is finally getting the attention that it deserves,” she said.

“We’re seeing so much interest in economies that are essentially decarbonizing — work that can deeply impact our shorelines, our waterways, our blue economies,” Lieberman said. These startups have the potential for exponential growth because they’re taking on massive global challenges, she added.

“Each of these companies has the ability, at scale [across their broader supply chain], to employ hundreds of thousands of employees, which can stimulate billions of dollars in economic development,” Lieberman said.

And it’s not just high-tech that’s got the wind in its sails. Some of the oldest techniques in blue economy development are staging a comeback. 

About eight years ago, Tim Macklin and a couple of friends started Collective Oyster Recycling & Restoration, a nonprofit that reclaims shucked shells from restaurants and wholesalers and distributes them back into the Sound to create a habitat for the next generation of shellfish. This year, in partnership with the state Bureau of Aquaculture, CORR planted 125,000 pounds of shells in various locations in the Sound. Next year, they anticipate that volume will grow to 300,000 pounds. 

That expansion is due, in large part, to a $400,000 state grant that supported the operation over the last two years.

“To be successful, you have to last for as long as you possibly can,” Macklin said. “Getting state and federal funds is going to be a key component to that.” (CORR is currently seeking state funding to purchase a permanent shorefront facility in Bridgeport.)

Macklin attended Murphy’s event in Milford last month, and he said he appreciated having “a seat at the table” among so many other businesses and organizations working to shore up the Sound and harbor its native industries. “I grew up around here, and I’ve seen what it was like in the ’80s and ’90s, and I’ve seen how much it’s improved. It’s going to take a huge effort to kind of continue that path,” he said. 

“Trying to get all these organizations that are working on Long Island Sound together to really move forward, not only individually but collectively, is extremely important. Oysters are a part of that, but there’s a lot of other problems that need to be addressed,” he said.