Eelgrass-Friendly Moorings Project
Eelgrass-Friendly Moorings Project
The Nantucket Land & Water Council (NLWC) has received a generous grant from the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation to support the installation of eelgrass-friendly moorings in Nantucket Harbor, a major step forward in protecting one of the island’s most important marine habitats.
On Monday, June 29th, 2026, the NLWC in collaboration with Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey, Anderson’s Stillwater Moorings, & Nantucket Moorings, officially began installing eelgrass-friendly moorings along our testing site in Nantucket Harbor. Installation has moved forward thanks to a generous grant from the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation to support eelgrass-friendly moorings in Nantucket Harbor.
Traditional Moorings and Eelgrass-Friendly Moorings
Traditional moorings utilize a mushroom anchor and a heavy chain that digs into the harbor floor. As wind, tides, and currents move boats and moorings, the chain drags on the harbor floor creating a circular scour – a place where eelgrass cannot grow.
Eelgrass-friendly moorings are a type of mooring that
protects eelgrass meadows
while allowing us to
continue using and enjoying our boats as we always have. The eelgrass-friendly moorings use a
pyramid style Dormor anchor and an
ecorode elastic rope replacing traditional chain and mushroom anchors. The elastic does not scour, allowing eelgrass to grow sustainably in our harbors.
Eelgrass scour from traditional boat moorings
Traditional boat mooring graphic
Eelgrass is a marine flowering plant that provides the foundation for our harbor environment.
The value of eelgrass meadows is well documented and includes
stabilizing sediments,
reducing wave energy,
serving as a “carbon sink”
to help offset our carbon footprint, and
improving overall water quality.
As our island community searches for answers to more severe storms and rising seas,
we can look to nature for solutions that have been
working for Nantucket for thousands of years.
These meadows provide habitat for many commercially important and/or endangered species, such as
the last commercially viable “wild”
bay scallop fishery in the U.S. However, the abundance and health of eelgrass has diminished from historic levels in many areas. Over the years the Nantucket Land & Water Council (NLWC) has supported eelgrass research that has revealed a need for action.
For more information about the NLWC's work towards monitoring and restoring eelgrass meadows, please click on the link below:
NLWC Eelgrass Meadow Mapping and Restoration
