Habitats of particular importance to Chesapeake watershed fisheries and other living resources are wetlands, submerged aquatic vegetation, and in-stream fish habitat. These provide the most vital sheltering, feeding, and breeding environments for fisheries.

Healthy, vital habitats are reliant upon addressing habitat degradation on two fronts: (1) elimination of the causes of the problem, or “stressors,” combined with (2) restoration efforts to help jump-start the “response” of vital habitats. This long-term restoration goal focuses on achieving results and implementing strategies for the latter of these fronts, as Goal 4 (Maintain Healthy Watersheds) encompasses strategies for the former.

Successful restoration relies on significant federal, state, local, and nongovernmental participation in large- and small-scale restoration efforts in targeted areas, combined with both incentive and grant programs for restoration on private lands, and government-sponsored restoration on public lands.
Achievement of this goal depends on habitat restoration results in four areas: healthy and abundant migratory fish habitat, healthy and abundant submerged aquatic vegetation, restored streams, and restored wetlands providing habitat and water quality. These desired results are described below.

Healthy and Abundant Migratory Fish Habitat

Chesapeake Bay tributaries were once crucial habitat for migratory (anadromous and catadromous) fish species. The installation of dams and other barriers along all major streams blocked these migratory routes, vastly diminishing the abundance of these species. Yet, progress is being made towards opening up these routes. Of particular importance is restoring habitat for American shad, as nearly 50% of the species’ potential restoration in the Chesapeake Bay lies in the waters upstream of the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River and the Boshers Dam on the James River.

Strategies for achieving healthy and abundant migratory fish habitat focus on: completing dam removal projects that restore as many habitat and stream functions as possible; prioritizing fish passage in the Susquehanna and James Rivers/watersheds; helping federal and state dam owners to set the example for fish passage projects at their own facilities; using federal and state engineers to provide low-cost dam removal designs for Chesapeake Bay watershed projects; regulating installation of new dams and other blockages; and ensuring streams can support fish populations.

Healthy and Abundant Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV)

Underwater Bay grasses, or submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), provide critical sheltering, feeding, and/or breeding habitat for blue crabs and other Bay fish species. Bay grasses have declined significantly over decades, primarily as a result of declines in water clarity due to high nutrient and sediment pollution in Bay waters.

Restoration of Bay grasses depends first and foremost on restoring water clarity in areas for SAV growth. Water quality criteria reflect the light requirements for growth and maintenance of SAV populations throughout the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. Restoration of water quality, including water clarity, is addressed separately in goal three below.

In addition, however, strategies for restoration are needed to provide adequate SAV habitat: accelerating the protection of existing SAV beds; restoring SAV through planting and transplantation; enhancing public communication and education regarding SAV; and conducting research to support SAV protection and restoration.

Healthy and Abundant Wetlands

Wetlands are unique, as they provide multiple benefits in addition to their vital habitat value: buffering shorelines from storm damage; mitigating flooding; and absorbing and filtering storm water. In particular, healthy and abundant wetlands help maintain water quality, making their restoration and conservation a double priority.

This result focuses primarily on wetlands restoration and includes strategies for restoring wetland acreage and restoring the function of degraded wetlands. In both cases, these strategies employ geographically focused efforts aimed towards areas with high wetland restoration potential, high potential benefit to water quality, and habitat value for living resources.

Restore Stream Health

Streams provide the interconnection between people’s activities in the 64,000 square-mile watershed and conditions in the Bay. Restoring the health of streams will provide (1) improved conditions for fish and living resources in local watersheds, (2) reduced amounts of nutrients, sediment, and contaminants being delivered to the Bay, and (3) safer drinking water quality for people. There needs to be improved coordination of efforts to implement actions to remove local streams from the “impaired water lists,” reduce pollutants to the Bay, and address the increased numbers of fish kills and observations of poor fish health in streams and rivers of the Bay watershed and the Bay itself.

Strategies for restoring stream health include: focus actions to reduce nutrients, sediment, and contaminants in watersheds that will provide optimum benefits to improve local stream quality and reduce loads to the Bay; understand the causes of fish kills and poor fish health in streams to develop management solutions; and implement stream restoration actions to improve hydrologic conditions and decrease sediment erosion.