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Eelgrass
Zostera marina
30 volunteers + 1,000 plants = a better inlet
By Lara Gerrits - The Tri-City News - May 07, 2008
A simple grass
plant is having a not-so-simple effect on the water where it
grows.
Volunteers
boosted the stock of eelgrass in Burrard Inlet Sunday by inserting
about 1,000 plants into the mud near Rocky Point Park during low
tide.
And that means
a bigger food supply for more than 200 species of marine
invertebrates, 70 species of fish and 80 species of birds.
Last March,
volunteers transplanted about 500 plants into the mud off Rocky
Point as part of a Pacific WildLife Foundation (PWLF) project and,
last August, they added 500 more thanks to cash from Environment
Canada’s environmental damages fund.
The three-year
project aims at reintroducing eelgrass to the inlet to provide not
only food but, also, habitat for young salmon. About 80% of all
commercial fish and shellfish species depend on eelgrass habitat
for at least part of their life cycle, according to the Seagrass
Conservation Working Group.
The eelgrass,
harvested Saturday from an area of Roberts Creek in Delta soon to
be affected by the DeltaPort expansion, was planted Sunday by more
than 30 volunteers, who threaded the grass onto an iron washer
with a twist tie and then inserted it within the mud, about four
to eight feet underwater during low tide.
Volunteers got
a lesson on the meaning behind their work from PWLF president Rob
Butler, as did the community via one-on-one chats, handouts, signs
and an aquarium of eelgrass.
Eelgrass beds
have a high value as habitat for young salmon as well as other
fish and invertebrates. It contributes to marine food webs and is
carried by tides and currents throughout the ocean. Eelgrass,
which is protected by law under the Federal Fisheries Act, also
assists with coastal protection by providing a physical baffle and
by reducing erosion.
Burrard Inlet
historically had a healthy eelgrass bed but it disappeared when
log booms created too much shade for the plants to survive. While
the first transplanted eelgrass was planted there just more than a
year ago, the effects are already being seen.
Among the many
fish spotted Sunday was a bay pipefish, a green pencil-thin
creature, resembling a sea horse straightened out, that blends
well into eelgrass.
“To find it
out there is a really good sign,” said Ruth Foster, an associate
with PWLF and retired Centennial secondary biology teacher.
At least one
more planting will happen as part of the project, either near
Rocky Point Park or Old Orchard Park.
Results
continue to be monitored with water quality tests, plant checks
and twice monthly bird counts.
“We’ll be able
to monitor whether there are more great blue herons... and all
kinds of water birds,” Foster said.
Boaters are
reminded to steer clear of the area; a three-sided sign that says
“No Power Boats Beyond This Point” was moored there Sunday and
replaces a similar sign that went missing a few years ago.
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