Introduction

A research project funded by the Mississippi-Alabama Seagrant Program

Patrick Biber and J. Cho

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) beds provide numerous ecosystem services, which include: (1) nursery for juvenile stages of finfish and shellfish, (2) an important food-source to aquatic organisms and wading birds, (3) sediment stabilization and buffering wave energy, and (4) nutrient uptake and sequestration that mitigate eutrophication.

The decline of SAV directly impacts the marine fishing industry due to loss of essential nursery habitat. The economic valuation of the fisheries industry in Mississippi provided by the Center for Fisheries Research and Development at the GCRL indicates that there are more than 50 species of finfish and shellfish are commercially harvested in state waters with a market value of $900 million in 2003, and a recreational industry valued conservatively at over $400 million in 2000. Clearly, loss of habitat would have a disproportionate impact on the socio-economic activities of coastal Mississippi and Alabama.

Learn more about other research projects we have completed at sites.google.com/site/drcgrass/