GOOD
Regeneration
Bumble Bee Seafood Investing in ocean regeneration
O
Ocean regenerative practices are those that restore and regenerate the ocean ecosystem and simultaneously sequester carbon for positive climate impact.
According to Bumble Bee Seafood Company’s CEO, Jan Tharp, “Despite many challenges, we never lost sight of our sustainability and social impact commitments and were able to meet and even accelerate many of our goals. I am extremely proud of the progress we have made. Yet, there is more to be done. The events [of 2021] have reinforced the reality that we are living in a world where we are inextricably linked both to each other and with nature. It is essential that we all nurture this wonderful planet that feeds us.” As a part of their sustainable initiative, Bumble Bee has partnered with SeaTrees, an organization working with communities around the world to plant and protect “blue carbon” coastal ecosystems like mangrove and kelp forests, seagrass and coral reefs.
“The ocean has the superpower to reverse climate change, but we need to help it happen by protecting and restoring bluecarbon (the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems),” Michael Stewart, co-founder of SeaTrees, stated. Together, SeaTrees and Bumble Bee aim to fill an important gap. Ocean health has long been neglected—despite its
18
GREEN LIVING
|
greenlivingmag.com
role as a regulator of global climate, a source of protein for hundreds of millions, and a repository of rich biodiversity. Human impacts and unsustainable exploitation have resulted in millions of tons of plastic in waterways, the degradation of coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems, and the strain on fisheries to feed a growing population. SeaTrees measures their impact with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, protecting and regenerating ecosystems that provide critical habitat for countless species, long-term employment for local communities and defending those communities from storm surges and sea-level rise. In the last decade, 80% of kelp forests have disappeared from the coast of Southern California, and 95% is gone from the northern part of the state. To help combat this loss of vital ecosystems, Bumble Bee has pledged to restore the kelp square footage — equivalent to three Olympic-size swimming pools — to the coast of Los Angeles (just south of their canning facility in Santa Fe Springs). In doing so, they joined forces with one of the largest and most successful ongoing kelp restoration projects in the world, supported
