SUSTAINABILITY

IT STARTS WITH A LICENCE

We are fully licenced to harvest seaweed by Cornwall Council and the Crown Estate. The qualifying principle for a licence is sustainability and approval from Natural England.

Because we were among the first to start a seaweed business in England, there was a need to establish the Code of Conduct for Seaweed Harvesting, which Natural England established with our collaboration. The Code lays out harvesting guidelines to ensure harvesting is carried out without significantly impacting the ecosystem.

OUR PROMISES

  • Seaweed can only be harvested by hand
  • Only a part of each individual plant can be cut, above the point of growth to allow regrowth
  • Other wildlife should not be disturbed
  • Harvest seaweeds during the active growth season to allow for quicker recovery
  • Rotate harvesting areas to allow ample time for recovery. Harvested areas should be left for up to several years, depending on the species, before harvesting again.

RECOGNITION

We have been very lucky to have our quality and sustainability efforts recognised.

In 2015 we were named Cornish Business of the Year and the following year we were proud to receive the Cornwall Sustainability Award for Best Contribution to a Sustainable Food Economy.

OUR SUSTAINABILITY PLEDGE

As seaweed harvesters we have a responsibility to look after our marine environment. We are committed to protecting our valuable marine resources, and this means harvesting in a sustainable and ethical manner, avoiding damage to ecosystems and coastal communities. To this end we have gone organic and become Soil Association licensees and adhere to the MSC environmental standards for sustainable harvesting and farming of seaweeds. These two actions ensure and enforce sustainable and responsible seaweed harvesting, with seaweed only harvested from the cleanest and highest quality waters. We are committed to adhere to the following principles:

Principle 1: Sustainable wild populations
We harvest seaweed in a manner that maintains the productive capacity of the wild seaweed populations and their sustainable, long-term use.

Principle 2: Environmental impacts
Our harvesting activities allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the activity depends.

Principle 3: Effective management
Our harvesting activities have an effective management system in place that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be environmentally sustainable and socially responsible.

Principle 4: Social responsibility
We harvest seaweeds in a socially responsible manner.

Principle 5: Community relations and interaction
We harvest seaweeds in a manner that minimizes impacts on other nearby farms, activities and communities.

OUR FRIENDS

We are fortunate to be supported by some amazing Cornish brands and they deserve a mention: Fourth Element is keeping us warm in the cold Cornish waters by providing us with their top of the range wetsuits.

A special thanks to the folk at the School for Social Entrepreneurs who provided us with support and grant funding in our early stages. We cannot forget Roskilly’s Organic Farm either, who have been behind us from the start.

Thanks guys!