SAV Aqua-Culture Technologies

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Naturally occurring SAV meadows are one of the most critical habitats occurring in estuaries and coastal bays along the seaboard of the United States. Over twenty species of SAVs are endemic to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Of these species eelgrass (Zostera marina) has experienced the greatest decline and in some accounts is the most important of all species because of its value to ecologic and commercially important organisms.

In 2003 Coastal Wetlands, Inc. developed an environmentally friendly land based aquaculture system to propagate eelgrass and other submerged aquatics for research and restoration efforts. This system is based on a seagrass mesocosm that uses naturally occurring marine sediments that act as a catalyst for micro and macro organisms. This system has demonstrated the unique ability to create and maintain a desired underwater environment in which we had exceptional growth of eelgrass and other marine organisms including shellfish.

This system has exhibited such promise that the Army Corps of Engineers, as of November 2008, has joined in partnership with Coastal Wetlands, Inc. to further develop this technology. It is our intent to continue to improve our propagation systems for SAVs and combine them with innovative wave attenuation devices in order to create a comprehensive system for large scale SAV restoration