Yacht Carbon Offset is proud to promote the Blue Marine Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to full health and wellbeing. Yacht Carbon Offset invites its clients to support Blue Marine’s UK project, the Solent Oyster Restoration Project, which aims to restore the native oyster back to the Solent waters.
You can see a summary of Blue Marine’s Solent Oyster Restoration Project below. Detailed information on this initiative, and all of Blue Marine’s projects, can be found on their website: www.bluemarinefoundation.com
Yacht Carbon Offset invites you to support Blue Marine’s fantastic work by making a financial contribution over and beyond the cost of your carbon offset transaction. Yacht Carbon Offset will facilitate the contribution and pass it on to Blue Marine in its entirety, without the extraction of any commission or fee. We recommend a contribution of €1 or US$1 for each tonne of carbon offset, but any amount will help to make a difference. We will include the voluntary contribution in your carbon offset quote.
You can discuss your Blue Marine contribution when you place your carbon offset order, or alternatively contact us at: enquiries@yachtcarbonoffset.com
Solent Oyster Restoration: Re-laying oysters into the Solent
Globally, an estimated 85% of oyster beds and oyster reef habitats have been lost, making them among the most imperilled marine habitats in the world. Blue Marine is creating a model for restoration of this key habitat by re-laying millions of oysters into the Solent, the strait that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. Oyster beds filter the surrounding water, removing nitrogen, sequestering carbon and providing habitats for hundreds of species.
In order to increase the number of breeding oysters within the Solent, Blue Marine’s team has placed mature “brood stock” oysters at high densities in cages hung in the water beneath pontoons, facilitating the release of millions of larvae into the Solent. The cages have been shown to provide a refuge for other marine life, with 97 different species having been found living within the cages so far, including critically endangered European eels, juvenile spiny seahorse and sea bass.
To promote natural recruitment and re-establish wild oyster beds, Blue Marine’s Solent team is also re-seeding protected seabed sites with juvenile oysters. These sanctuary sites will be created on a large scale in areas closed to commercial fishing and will be allowed to flourish and develop