Dr Richard Unsworth, Seagrass Ecosystems Research Group, University of Swansea, Wales

The significant role seagrass meadows play in supporting fisheries productivity and food security across the globe is not adequately reflected in the decisions made by authorities with statutory responsibility for their management. This leads to planning decisions that ultimately result in widespread seagrass loss. In my talk I provide an overview of why seagrass is an important habitat for fish. I then present evidence of how this role supports fisheries production at small local scales as well as larger global scales. I use examples that illustrate how seagrasses are fundamental habitat for nearshore small-scale subsistence fisheries in SE Asia as well as being vital for supporting major fish stocks such as Atlantic Cod.

2. Seagrass loss and restoration - implications for the value of carbon and nitrogen stocks

Prof Per-Olav Moksnes, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Over 60% of the eelgrass along the Swedish NW coast has vanished since the 1980s, which has resulted in a loss of important ecosystem services, including sequestration and long-term storage of carbon and nutrients in the sediment. Little is known about how the extensive losses has affected the carbon stocks, and if eelgrass restoration can be used to facilitate recovery of meadows and their ecosystem services. New studies show that eelgrass losses in this system result in extensive release of both carbon and nitrogen with a high cost to society (estimated to 100,000 Euro per hectare of eelgrass). Methods for eelgrass restoration in Swedish waters have recently been developed, but large scale recovery is challenged by local regime shifts resulting from the loss of eelgrass.