FISM Plan : Scarring and Scouring

Make a positive change for the environment. Check for seagrass before it is uprooted! Learn what the FISM Coalition is doing to protect this valuable habitat!

A fragmented seagrass bed

Makes fragmented fish habitat!

  • Scarring and scouring are caused by mooring chains, propellers, and some types of fishing gear, such as rakes [1]. Mooring chains can create large bare patches in the eelgrass meadows, where prop scars create long lines of uprooted eelgrass.

  • This form of disturbance damages plants and fragments the habitat thereby making it less resilient to other stressors. Physical damage is one of the primary threats to eelgrass at Fishers Island [2,3,4].

    • Minimize scouring from moorings

      • Convert traditional moorings that are in meadows to conservation moorings

      • Place future moorings outside of eelgrass meadow

    • Minimize prop scarring

      • Ask boaters to trim up when in shallow water and an eelgrass meadow

    • Minimize scouring from fishing gear

      • Ask clammers to limit the use of destructive gear types.

    • Talk to mooring owners about the benefits of conservation moorings

    • Recommend amending the mooring permitting process to require the use of both historic and current seagrass maps and in-water surveys to determine seagrass-safe locations for siting moorings

    • Recommend requiring new conventional moorings to be placed at a depth that is outside of the growth range for seagrass

    • Develop and implement education programs for best boating practices

    • Develop and implement education programs for best-clamming practices

    1. New York State Seagrass Task Force (NYSSTF). 2009. Final report of the New York State Seagrass Task Force: Recommendations to the New York State Governor and Legislature. State of New York.

    2. Arnott, Stephen A. (2021). Survey of human activities at five seagrass sites on Fishers Island, New York.

    3. Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Agriculture. (2007). An assessment of the impacts of commercial and recreational fishing and other activities to eelgrass in Connecticut’s waters and recommendations for management. State of Connecticut.

    4. Tong, Matias. 2019. An Evaluation of Eelgrass Extent and Vessel Use Patterns Around Fishers Island, New York.