governments investing in marine biotechnology have recognised the potential for marine biotechnology to help sustain the ecosystem services the ocean provides to the planet this chapter discusses the potential socioeconomic contribution of marine biotechnology and the importance of marine biotechnology to environmental sustainability those identified in the marine environment have tended to come from organisms living in environmental extremes and have a wide range of applications in industrial and agricultural processing these amphiphilic compounds display a range of surface activities that allow for the solubilisation of hydrophobic substrates