March is Seagrass Awareness month in Florida

This month is Seagrass Awareness Month in Florida.

Seagrasses are flowering underwater grasses found in estuaries, lagoons and shallow, and open shelves off Florida's coast.

Florida is home to seven species of seagrasses, located throughout the state.

The underwater grasses are extremely important to the Apalachicola Bay seafood industry because a single acre of seagrass can support as many as 40,000 fish and more than 70 percent of Florida’s recreational and commercial fisheries depend on seagrass to provide a nursery ground for marine life.

The grasses also maintain water quality and clarity by stabilizing bottom sediments and filtering nutrients from stormwater run-off.

But seagrasses face a continuing threat from Florida boaters.

An estimated 174,000 acres of Florida seagrasses are scarred from boat propellers.

Seagrasses can take up to a decade to recover from propeller scars.

Seagrasses can also damage your boat if you hit them – but repairing the boat won’t cost as much as the fines you can get if you’re caught damaging Florida’s Seagrass.

Groundings that damage seagrass habitats are offenses subject to both federal and state fines, including civil penalties, damage assessment and habitat restoration costs and long-term monitoring of the restored site.

You can find out more about seagrass at the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research reserve Nature Center in Eastpoint.

The reserve has a new interactive display called “seagrass is my home” all about seagrass and the creatures that live in it.

The Nature center is at 108 Island Drive in Eastpoint – its open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 till 4.

http://live.oysterradio.com/