Two women in wetsuits stand in the water holding up bags full of eelgrass shoots. — Restoration Success Volunteers hoist bags of eelgrass shoots. © Bo Lusk / TNC

Restoring Eelgrass

Go into the water and behind the scenes of the largest and most successful seagrass restoration project in the world.

November 27, 2018

This page was updated on September 1, 2020

Each spring since 2008, 40 to 60 volunteers have signed on and suited up to collect eelgrass (Zostera marina), a simple seagrass that once thrived in the coastal bays of Virginia, but was virtually wiped out in the 1930s by disease and hurricane. Over more than a decade nearly 500 volunteers have given 2,175 hours to the effort.

How do volunteers collect up to 10 million eelgrass seeds during a roughly 10-day window?

One handful at a time.

A man in a wet suit holds up eelgrass shoots. — **Ripe for Recovery** Volunteer Al McKegg holds up long strands of eelgrass. For about 10 days in late spring, the grasses' seed-bearing reproductive shoots are in the prime stage for collection. © Alex Novak/The Nature Conservancy

From Disaster to Recovery

In the early 1930s, a noxious slime mold and the powerful Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane combined to devastate seagrass meadows in Virginia’s coastal bays. While seagrasses did regenerate in the Chesapeake, they never returned to Virginia's other coastal bays.

A patch of eelgrass was discovered in 1999 in a seaside bay off the Eastern Shore. It may have taken root from seeds that had drifted down from Chincoteague Bay. According to Dr. Robert "JJ" Orth from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), "That’s when the light went on that conditions there might be ripe for recovery, as long as there was a source of seeds."

Collecting Eelgrass

Three people in wet suits stand on a boat. — **Restoration Success** Coastal Scientist Bo Lusk holds up an eelgrass shoot while explaining the seed collection process to volunteers. The sack tied around his neck will be used for collection. © Alex Novak / TNC

A snorkler collects eelgrass shoots underwater. — **Collecting Eelgrass** A volunteer gathers shoots containing ripe seeds. The shoots are measured into water tanks, and the seeds are cured, separated and prepared for planting in the fall. © Mark Godfrey/TNC

A woman wearing a snorkeling mask looks closely at an eelgrass shoot. — **One Seed at a Time** A volunteer stands in the shallow water of South Bay holding an eelgrass shoot. The annual collection event is a part of one of the largest recovery efforts in the world. © Peter Frank Edwards

The heads of two people bob above the water while a third person floats and snorkels along the surface. — **Restoration Success** Volunteer snorkelers collect seagrass shoots in a shallow coastal bay. © Daniel White / TNC

Three people stand at the end of a boat. — **Collecting Eelgrass** Staff and volunteers from VIMS collect eelgrass trimmings with a boat-mounted mower. The process is similar to mowing a lawn; the eelgrass will soon grow back. © Peter Frank Edwards

Turning the Tide: Bringing Scallops Back

As eelgrass collapsed, it created a ripple effect. With the loss of this critical nursery habitat, commercially important bay scallops completely disappeared from Virginia’s waters.

But after more than 80 years, the tide may be turning.

We are working with VIMS on an effort to produce and grow scallops from larvae to juvenile size. 3 million of VIMS’ bay scallop larvae are currently being raised in TNC setting tanks.

In May 2017, we released 12.3 million bay scallop larvae that were spawned by VIMS and Cherrystone Aquafarms into the eelgrass in South Bay. The hope is to eventually restore a self-sustaining population of bay scallops to Virginia waters.

A man and a woman stand in a boat with buckets full of baby scallops ready for planting. — **Returning Scallops** Bo Lusk holds open a bag containing millions of bay scallop larvae. Britt Gonzalez releases the larvae into the seagrass meadow. © Alex Novak / TNC

Virginia supported the most productive bay scallop fishery in the United States in 1930, but the scallops disappeared along with the seagrass meadows.

Scallops affix themselves to blades of seagrass which provide shelter from strong currents and from predators like crabs and rays. Along with our partners at VIMS, we’re working to build on our successful eelgrass restoration efforts by returning bay scallops to Virginia waters.

Oh, snap! The “snapping” is repeated muscle contractions scallops make for the jet propulsion they use for swimming.

A man stands over a large tank holding eelgrass shoots. — **Ripe for Recovery** Dr. Robert "JJ" Orth from VIMS stands next to a holding tank at TNC's eelgrass curing facility in Oyster, VA. © Peter Frank Edwards

Ripe for Recovery

After they're collected, the eelgrass shoots are measured into holding tanks to cure. The seeds will be extracted and stored in sea water until fall, when they will be sown back into the seaside bays.

Starting from the mere remnant discovered in a seaside bay, TNC and VIMS have since broadcast more than 72 million seeds into 600 acres to help accelerate the natural spread of eelgrass, which now covers 9,000 acres in South, Spider Crab, Hog Island and Cobb Island bays.

VVCR’s eelgrass restoration is also the subject of a blue carbon feasibility study, the first of its kind in world, which provides the potential for future implementation of a long-term carbon credit project.