The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservation partners are working to understand the decline of eelgrass meadows in Casco Bay, Maine, while preparing for restoration. The work includes monitoring healthy areas, studying what is affecting the plants, and testing how damaged meadows might be helped.
Eelgrass is easy to overlook, but its underwater meadows provide habitat, shelter coastlines, and support marine life. Restoration begins with patient observation: knowing where the meadow is healthy, understanding why it is shrinking, and giving local partners a better chance to rebuild it.