Innovative Solutions for Eelgrass Monitoring: Bridging Ecology and Economy

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an important component of Nova Scotia’s (NS) blue carbon ecosystem, storing significant amounts of CO2. Eelgrass is vital to NS’s economy, supporting fisheries, improving water quality, and protecting against coastal erosion. However, these ecosystems are threatened by anthropogenic impacts and environmental changes. 

This project focuses on evaluating eelgrass monitoring strategies to advance our understanding of the natural carbon capture (CC) efficiency of eelgrass along NS’s coastlines and identifying the provincial economic benefit from healthy meadows. 

The method of combining aerial and underwater imagery for eelgrass monitoring has been suggested by Vandermeulen (2014) and Massot-Campos et al., 2023 and was introduced by Island County Marine Resource Council for successful tracking of eelgrass beds in the US. We aim to evaluate the suitability of this concept to map and quantify eelgrass distributions in NS’s coastal areas, monitor meadow recession or growth, and quantify the approximate CO2 removal. Further, we aim to assess how well this method enables potential causal factor analyses for eelgrass health. These insights will inform future eelgrass distribution scenarios which will be published in an open access White Paper together with connections and impacts of eelgrass health on the local economy, such as enhancing coastal resilience to protect agricultural livelihood. The paper will include best practices for eelgrass monitoring and how this natural CC method can support the province’s net-zero 2050 target while providing insights and advice to support Atlantic Canada in the global carbon market.

Data will be stored using a modified version of COVE’s Digital Harbour (DH), a platform designed to collect, store, and share data in Halifax Harbour. The version will leverage existing DH features, such user-based data access permissions to ensure that the location of the meadows, knowledge provided by indigenous-led organizations, is securely stored and protected.