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Seagrass Recovery to Increase Public Awareness
about Seagrass Habitat
Company also Establishes Corporate Partnership Program
to Help Support Seagrass Restoration Projects
Indian Rocks Beach, FL (March 2008) – Seagrass Recovery, the leading provider
of solutions to help save the nation’s oceans, estuaries and shorelines, announced today the launch of a public education campaign to help raise awareness about the
alarming loss of Florida’s coastal seagrass habitats during “Seagrass Awareness
Month” in March.
As part of this educational effort, Seagrass Recovery conducted a personalized tour
of severely damaged seagrass beds with senior Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) near Marathon in the Keys. She commented, “I hope this tour will not only raise public awareness about
the importance of seagrass, but will also encourage individuals and businesses alike
to think about innovative ways to contribute to efforts that restore this valuable
marine ecosystem that truly defines the beauty of our state and preserves the value
of our treasured coast lines.”
The company is also about to take part in a major seagrass restoration project in
the Red Bay Banks area of the Keys, an area heavily damaged by boat propellers and
vessel groundings.
Seagrass Recovery also announced the establishment of a corporate program to seek
unique partnering solutions to stabilize and reverse coastal seagrass habitat losses
around the state and globe. The company will work directly with individuals and
corporations to help publicize the mostly unknown, but critically important economic
and environmental contributions of seagrass, while also establishing support for
projects that grow and expand seagrass habitat in coastal waters.
“As everyone knows, Florida’s coastlines have played a starring role in attracting
scores of visitors and residents to our state. Seagrass plays a critically important
role preserving and sustaining the beauty and vitality of our coastal shores, but
the public remains mostly unaware that this underwater habitat is imperiled along
virtually every Florida coast, and
particularly in the Keys. Without seagrass, we
wouldn’t have recreational or commercial fishing, nor stunning coasts for residents
and tourists alike to enjoy. That is why we are also embarking on a corporate partners
program to involve the business community in making a positive, quantifiable impact
to save our seagrass habitats today,” said Seagrass Recovery President and CEO Jeff Beggins.
Florida’s seagrass habitats are in dire trouble. In just the past ten years, the
state has lost nearly 300,000 acres of seagrass, or 82 acres a day. If these losses
continue unabated, they will not only have a dramatic negative impact on the ocean’s
environment, but also Florida’s economy. In 2000, for example, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection estimated the state’s 2.7 million acres of coastal
seagrass contributed $124 billion overall to recreational and commercial fishing alone. That
does not include the economic benefits and contributions to tourism dollars and
residential property values.
Seagrass habitat is primarily caused by boat propellers and groundings, but also
by population growth, nutrient runoff, dredging, some fishing methods, and also
unpredictable storms and hurricanes. Seagrass cannot self-regenerate, so once it sustains damage, it’s almost always damaged forever. Worse, the destruction frequently
expands outwards to other seagrass beds and meadows.
About Seagrass Recovery
Since 1996, Seagrass Recovery has successfully transplanted,
repaired and grown several species of seagrass. The company, located in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida,
has completed more than 50 restoration projects around the world, many in Florida.
Once Seagrass Recovery becomes involved in a project,
measurable results are typically achieved within 12-18 months. This success represents
a paradigm shift in how seagrass restoration is applied and achieved.
Seagrass Recovery’s innovative methods and technologies –
the company holds seven
industry-specific patents – are unique in the industry.
These include techniques that have been scientifically peer-reviewed and approved
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association as well as by the Florida Department
of
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Seagrass Recovery is actively teaming with concerned citizens, organizations,
educational institutions, and corporations across Florida and the nation to protect, restore and expand seagrass habitat.
The company’s mission is to save oceans, estuaries and shorelines for generations
to come. To learn more about Seagrass Recovery and
its solutions, please visit www.seagrassrecovery.com.
For more information about this event or the company, please contact John McNeilly,
Seagrass Recovery’s Director of Corporate Communications, at 727.542.8122.
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