Marine discovery, nonmarine deployment: A translation paradox in blue biotechnology

Marine biotechnology draws on one of the richest sources of biological novelty on Earth. Yet, as investment accelerates alongside new international ocean governance frameworks, marine discoveries rarely reach the market as marine production systems. Rather than translation failure, the more consequential pattern is structural displacement: value routinely migrates into land-based fermentation, chemical synthesis, or microbial production rather than remaining marine. In this marine biotechnology translation paradox, discovery succeeds while marine production is left behind. Current success metrics conflate innovations that stay marine with those that exit the domain, distorting investment and progress. The Marine Deployability Triad is proposed as an early framework to identify which innovations can remain marine at deployment, with implications for funding, evaluation, and blue economy policy.