The San Diego Union Tribune
By Jennifer Van Grove

01/18/21 - Part of a five-part series, an episode featuring Harbor Drive shines a light on San Diego’s growing, but under-the-radar ocean industry

Harbor Drive — the San Diego road that traces downtown’s waterfront — is perhaps most widely recognized for its scenic qualities, but a primetime television special airing next week on CNBC seeks to showcase the economic significance of what’s happening behind the scenes. The episode, part of the five-part documentary series called “Streets of Dreams with Marcus Lemonis,” serves to shine a light on the region’s so-called “Blue Economy,” or the growing industry associated with the sustainable use of ocean resources. As host, Lemonis takes viewers on a tour of important businesses located on a stretch of Harbor Drive that he refers to as an “under-the-radar, nine-mile gold vein that runs along San Diego’s urban waterfront.”

“For me, it’s really about trying to focus on cool places in America — and cool industries in America — that nobody knows about,” Lemonis said in an interview with the Union-Tribune. “I had never really spent as much time as I did in San Diego. And as I started doing some research, I realized that the military and fishermen truly drive a lot of that unknown commerce there. The San Diego-specific episode was filmed over a week-long period just before the state enacted stay-at-home regulations to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The show features places like Naval Base San Diego, where Lemonis considers the economic impact of aircraft carriers, and Tuna Harbor, where he converses with local fishermen about the regulatory challenges they face.