Volunteers use clams to restore eelgrass in Connecticut
Drone imagery shows a 178 per cent increase in eelgrass coverage after a planting project in Long Island Sound.
Volunteers in Connecticut are using live clams and eelgrass seeds to restore underwater forests in the Long Island Sound. According to the Times of India, the Seeds of Eelgrass Attached to Shellfish (SEAS) method involves gluing seeds to clam shells before releasing them at specific sites.
The clams burrow into the seabed, effectively planting the seeds into the sediment. This approach follows a decline in eelgrass meadows in and around Long Island Sound of more than 90 per cent since the 1980s, according to Save the Sound.
In fall 2025, the team planted 30,000 seed-carrying clams in four experimental plots near Duck Island, Westbrook. Drone imagery in 2026 showed that eelgrass meadow coverage increased by 178 per cent.
Save the Sound Long Island Soundkeeper Bill Lucey said the method appears to have worked, though he noted the plants must survive for three years to declare full success. He described the generation of plants as incredible.
The project was conceived by Robert Vasiluth, founder of SAVE Environmental, and is being tested by a consortium including the Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve. Other participants include Connecticut College, the University of Connecticut, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and Stony Brook University.
This season, the team aims to release 10,000 clams carrying 300,000 seeds. Biologist Maria Rosa from Connecticut College found that using wet rice paper to seal seeds against shells produced better germination rates than coral glue alone.