Sustainable Governance of Marine Bio-Resource Valorization: Bridging the “Valley of Death” in China’s Marine Traditional Medicine Industry

Many coastal regions endowed with rich marine biodiversity fail to translate these resources into high-value pharmaceutical products—a “valorization gap” that obstructs progress toward SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure). This study investigates the governance barriers underlying this gap using China’s Marine Traditional Chinese Medicine (MTCM) industry as an empirical case. Guided by an integrated analytical framework synthesizing innovation systems theory, Triple Helix dynamics, global value chain analysis, and organizational ambidexterity, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with 16 stakeholders in Dalian and NVivo-based thematic analysis. Four interconnected barriers are identified: value chain lock-in at the food-product level, a fragmented innovation ecosystem with misaligned incentives, a translational “valley of death” caused by absent pilot-scale platforms and quality standardization deficits, and an underdeveloped industrial ecosystem trapped in a low-value equilibrium. Through benchmarking against Qingdao’s marine pharmaceutical model and international marine bio-pharmaceutical policies (Japan, Republic of Korea, EU), this study proposes a “Dual-Wheel Driving” sustainable governance framework that simultaneously pursues “stock upgrading” (standardization, sustainable sourcing, branding) and “increment cultivation” (strategic pharmaceutical R&D with green innovation principles), coordinated through a “one core, multiple nodes” institutional architecture. The findings offer transferable policy insights for similarly positioned coastal regions seeking to develop marine bio-pharmaceutical capabilities within a sustainable blue bioeconomy framework.