“Seagrass rehabilitation can mitigate impact of climate change”

Seagrass, which acts as nursery for many marine organisms and is feed for endangered dugongs, has been successfully rehabilitated along Tuticorin coast.

Seagrass was rehabilitated on the seabed within six months and its survival rate was between 85 and 90 per cent, J.K. Patterson Edward, Director, Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI), Tuticorin, told The Hindu here on Sunday.

With funding support from Mangroves for the Future Programme of International Union of Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) India, researchers took up conservation of seagrass from threats caused by bottom trawling. It would enhance fisheries productivity.

Traditional fishermen from over 50 coastal villages from Pamban to Athiramapattinam had been depending on seagrass-associated fishery for their livelihood. Seagrass was responsible for about 15 per cent of total carbon storage in oceans across the world, he said, adding its rehabilitation would create a viable adaptive mechanism to mitigate climate change impacts.

Seagrass rehabilitation was carried out in one square kilometre of degraded area outside Koswari Island with 400 PVC pipes. Over 20 per cent of seagrass beds had been degraded mainly due to bottom trawling, Dr. Edward noted.

He said “seagrass meadows are ecologically sensitive habitats and it plays a role in safeguarding a number of endangered species, including dugongs, turtles and sea horses”. Seagrass meadows also bound sediments to reduce coastal erosion, he added.

The low-cost technology was adopted under this programme to ensure high returns of fisheries. Associated fauna like bivalve, gastropod, echinoderms, sea anemone and sponges also started appearing in the rehabilitated area.

Fish species such as Lutjanus sp., Epinephelus sp., Scolopsis sp., Terapon sp., Sardinella sp., Caranx sp., Ostracion sp. and Lactoria sp. were also reported in the area, he noted.

Luxuriant and patch seagrass areas were found in around 300 square kilometres in Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar, he added.