Green Ocean Coffee Customers Fund The Restoration Of Clew Bay & Dublin Bay Seabed
Watermark Coffee, a family-owned business established in 2007, recently launched a new coffee brand called Green Ocean Coffee. This is a barista-grade speciality coffee that is funding the restoration of seabed on a large site in Clew Bay, Co. Mayo as well as in several marinas around Dublin Bay.
One square meter of marine habitat is being restored with every KG bag of coffee purchased. The aim is to help business’ take steps towards reaching their sustainability goals with minimal effort and maximum results on their part. We want to be able to seamlessly integrate into people’s daily lives in a way that makes a lasting impact on not only the environment, but the way people look at their daily decision making.
We are immensely proud to say that on top of our sustainability projects & lofty goals we also picked up the Gold award for coffee at this year’s Blas na hÉireann awards. So the quality of the bean is second to none.
The Dublin Bay Project:
Up until the early 1800’s Dublin Bay hosted naturally occurring oyster reefs which were harvested by hand and boat in the Clontarf, North Bull areas of the bay. These reefs were so abundant that the oysters were sold as ‘fast food’ by street sellers to many Dubliners in the capital. However, the popularity of the Irish oyster led to their downfall as the oyster reefs were overexploited leading to a permanent demise of the Dublin Bay Oyster. Until now….
Our Oyster reseeding project is an ambitious project to start the process of developing a brood stock of the European Flat Oyster (otherwise known as the Native Irish Oyster) using a technique known as oyster gardening. Partnering with UCD, we are sourcing wild Irish oysters from Tralee Bay and placing these in specialised marine boxes that allow the oysters to filter feed. These boxes are suspended in 1 – 2 meters from floating walkways in harbours and marinas around Dublin Bay.
Each oyster garden will house 10 or so mature oysters to allow them to adjust to their new environment in the way that maximises health and their ability to spawn and fertilise. Each healthy female oyster releases up to 1.5 million eggs into the water each July/August. As fertilisation occurs, the fertilised larvae settle on hard surfaces or substrate (harbour walls, other oysters, rocks etc.) and grow from spat to juvenile to mature oyster over a 3 year period with an expected lifespan of 20 years.
Each oyster filters approximately 190 litres of sea water per day feeding on nutrients, algae and phytoplankton from the water column. This process improves water clarity allowing sunlight to penetrate the seafloor which encourages the recovery of seagrass and seaweed beds. Seagrass and seaweeds provide an ideal nursery environment for fish to spawn and develop. Seagrass is also a powerful carbon sink as it sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide at a rate of 35 times faster than the rainforest.
As time progresses (10 – 20 years) the oysters spread and form clumps which develop into reefs. These reefs help to stablise the seafloor providing a natural barrier against storm surge which protects seaweed and seagrass beds and the coast from erosion.
The oyster is a keystone species in providing a nature-based solution to against the risk of climate change and we need your help in expanding the impact of this project.
The Clew Bay Project:
Working with Clew Bay Oyster Co-Op we have started restoring old oyster beds in protected marine environments by preparing the sea floor to allow the successful reseeding of oyster and seagrass.
The restoration process involves spreading a layer of shell, called culch, thinly on the sea floor that allows the oyster seed to attach itself and grow into mature oysters. Once this process starts the oysters will multiply expanding into a reef that allows seagrass to propagate. This in turn provides an ideal spawning habitat for juvenile fish and invertebrates.
Each bag of Green Ocean Coffee results in the restoration of 1 square metre of sea floor. The total area that is due for restoration in this current phase is 10 hectares. It is located east of Dorinish Island at the co-ordinates 53.489° N, 9.396° W.
How to Get Involved
You can get involved in The Green Ocean Coffee Project in a number of ways:
The easiest is by drinking Green Ocean coffee in your home or place of work.
We are also looking for volunteers who are interested in coming down to the marinas to help clean/inspect the oyster baskets. These days take place every 6 weeks with the first happening in early February and offer a great first-hand perspective at the work that is being carried out.
If you are interested in volunteering or trying out any Green Ocean Coffee beans, please get in touch with aaron.murray@watermark.ie or phone 01 4666304.
More Information
Our website www.greenoceancoffee.ie has a more information on the coffee, and the nature of the restoration work we are engaged with, as well as information on coffee equipment, solutions etc.
About The Author
Watermark Coffee is a Techies Go Green signatory member.
“Watermark Coffee is a family-owned business established by my wife Marguerite and I in 2007. We started off selling coffee machines and delivering maintenance on these until 2014; we then began our adventure into developing wonderful coffee blends and our business has gone from strength to strength.
The perfect cup of coffee requires more than great coffee. It needs to be expertly roasted and made using the best coffee machines. We provide all of these elements to ensure your coffee is perfect each and every time.
Treating customers the way we wish to be treated, is at the core of how we do business. It’s really personal to us and that is how we want our business to feel to you, our customer. We have a great team of people and we hire and train people who value customer care as much as we do.
Coffee is one passion of ours, the world around us is another. With my interest in offshore sailing and scuba diving, I have witnessed for myself how quickly the natural world is changing. It has driven our team to think outside the box. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do from sourcing our coffee, to running our operations to our partnerships and brands.”