A new chapter in Island environmental restoration is blooming in a laboratory on the shores of the Lagoon. There, in a cool tub of water at a Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group Hatchery, a small artificial meadow of eelgrass is beginning to flower.
The Tisbury select board voted unanimously Wednesday to impose an immediate moratorium on anchoring in Lake Tashmoo until the town has developed a policy to reduce the number of visiting boats.
Tisbury selectman have designated Drew’s Cove in Lake Tashmoo a no-anchoring zone for an indefinite period of time to protect fragile eelgrass beds near the head of the saltwater estuary.
Nashaquitsa Pond has become a laboratory for eelgrass restoration, although poor water quality and other factors appear to be keeping the aquatic species from re-establishing.
An unexpected absence of eelgrass in Nashaquitsa Pond this summer may be the result of crab predation and goose foraging over the harsh winter. The Chilmark shellfish constable said he's never seen such a sudden decline in the aquatic plant that plays a vital role in the life cycle of shellfish.
More than 10 years after the state began studying Tashmoo Pond as part of the Massachusetts Estuaries Project, a final report on the pond’s declining health is expected to be released this week.
The decline of eelgrass on the Vineyard and along the eastern seaboard has been known and documented for many years. Eelgrass is key to the health of a coastal pond ecosystem, and its disappearance has had a significant impact on sea life, fish and shellfish.
But in at least one area of Katama Bay, eelgrass appears to be coming back — thanks to the breach at Norton Point Beach, biologists believe. And the news could have ramifications for other ponds around the Island.
