We’re failing in the mission to restore the Bay

New preliminary data documents that Chesapeake Bay grasses declined again in 2020 to the lowest level since 2013. Submerged aquatic vegetation coverage dropped to 62,169 acres, a loss from 66,387 acres in 2019 which represented a 33% decline from 2018. The 2020 acreage is just below the level of 30 years ago. This loss of underwater grasses is another indication of how badly the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay is going. The surveys mapping submerged aquatic vegetation have been conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science since 1978.