Nantucket Harbor - Nantucket, MA

by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay
Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station

There is probably no single plant more important to our harbor ecosystem than eelgrass. We have relatively healthy beds of eelgrass in both harbors and in shallow areas around the island and the islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget. The protection of eelgrass habitat is critical in order to have a viable bay scallop fishery. Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) is a subtidal marine angiosperm (flowering plant), or "seagrass," that grows in temperate waters, often forming extensive underwater meadows. It is not seaweed, but actually an underwater submerged grass that flowers and primarily spreads via rhizomes or roots.

Full Article: No Eelgrass, No Scallops