Loving the life aquatic to sustain a healthy ocean

We continue our series on the UN-sanctioned steps businesses are taking to meet their sustainable development goals and to reduce negative impacts on society.

How we manage the oceans to counterbalance the effects of climate change on life underwater is important for society, but paramount for those businesses that rely on the sea’s wellbeing.

Sanford’s sustainability general manager Lisa Martin said sustainability has become a underlying aspect of Sanford’s business strategy.

‘‘We’re not going to be here if we don’t have healthy oceans and the opportunity to have productive agriculture and wild catch,’’ Martin said.

‘‘Our very business model will be disrupted so it makes business sense for us to always been mindful and respectful of that.’’

A few months ago Sanford set up a project to create New Zealand’s greenest mussel farm and the pilot is still under way in Marlborough’s Pelorus Sound.

Farm development manager Grant Boyd said the eco-farm had become a innovation space for Sanford to trial different ideas to create a sustainable environment for mussel. Boyd said the company was trying to reduce its green footprint by eliminating the use of plastic by replacing old ropes used for mussel ties with plant-based materials that were biodegradable in compost.

The mussel farm has also started harvesting sea cucumbers, a hitherto underestimated export.

‘‘We want to do all our trials in a smaller area where can monitor them and see what happens, and then we can roll them out and other businesses might be able to pick up from our farm as well.’’

Boyd said reducing its carbon footprint by reducing the risk of oil spills and pollution was another key area of focus.

Sanford used biodegradable fuel across all its operations, replacing traditional hydraulic oil.

Martin said respecting the environment was important for Sanford’s future.

She said there had been a shift within the business sector from the traditional business model that weighted the greatest importance on the bottom line, to one that looked holistically at how all parts of the business were doing.

‘‘The people of New Zealand own the Marlborough Sounds, so we must behave in a way that we’re still welcome here.’’

TIPS:

- Encourage your staff to do volunteer or community work for local organisations that clean up our oceans and waterways, like Sustainable Coastlines, Sea Cleaners and Project Jonah.

- Make sure your business buys a wide variety of seafood, rather than focusing on just one or two familiar species.

- Do your bit to reduce your business’ use of single-use plastic items and water bottles that can end up in our waterways, by reviewing your operations’ use of plastic.