Back to the Bays  Marine Meadows Workshop: Kidd Squid Brewery

CCE Marine Program's Back to the Bays Initiative

Help CCE Marine's Team in our eelgrass restoration efforts by helping  weave  eelgrass shoots into burlap "tortillas" for transplanting !

Kidd Squid Brewing Company

Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program's Back to the Bays Initiative will be hosting a Marine Meadows Workshop on October 24 from 4-6pm at Kidd Squid Brewery, as part of our work to help enhance and restore the waters off of Sag Harbor. Support from Kidd Squid's Brew for the Bays and our community fundraising campaign has enabled habitat and shellfish restoration activities to take place within our Sag Harbor Back to the Bays Stewardship Site!Participants of this workshop will help CCE staff weave live eelgrass shoots into biodegradable burlap planting units. Once stocked, these eelgrass "tortillas" will be planted at our Sag Harbor Stewardship Site by CCE Marine's Dive Team where they will provide essential habitat for finfish and shellfish, and help improve water quality and coastal resiliency of our shorelines.All are welcome, but activity is best suited for those aged 10+. In need of service hours? We'll provide lettters validating your time volunteering upon request, so just ask a CCE Team member to provide one at the workshop!About CCE's Marine Meadows Program: The main purpose of the CCE Eelgrass Program is to restore and monitor eelgrass, our dominant local seagrass species. Eelgrass meadows provide essential habitat for many species of finfish and shellfish during part or all stages of life. Due to the structure and protection they provide, eelgrass meadows are the most biodiverse marine habitats in our region. These meadows also help to prevent or lessen erosion from storm events and help control turbidity by slowing currents and settling particulates from the water column. Eelgrass meadows also capture excess nutrients, such as nitrogen, and sequester carbon to combat ocean acidification and climate change. Unfortunately, eelgrass populations have declined dramatically over the past 75 years due to many reasons, and without our help, will not likely make a comeback in the near future as there are no ready sources of propagules (seeds or adult shoots) to naturally vegetate these areas. This situation is called propagule limitation and it is the basis for our restoration work. The more seeding and planting we can can do, the better the outcome for our local marine meadows, so we encourage you to get involved by participating in our workshops and contributing to these important efforts.