In the clip above, you can see how divers plant eelgrass.

It started with trial plantings during the summer of 2018 in Gothenburg's north and southern archipelago by moving eelgrass from a donor meadow to a new location that was deemed suitable.

But it did not succeed because the plantations did not recover.

New plantings were therefore made in another place, in Torslanda, during the summer of 2019. And that is exactly what gave a positive result.

- It has gone very well on many of our trial plantations where the growth in some places has grown to up to a thousand percent.

It's a big breakthrough.

I do not know of any planting that has had better results than this elsewhere, says Edvard Molitor, head of sustainability at the Port of Gothenburg.

Planted by divers

Eelgrass beds serve as protection and a playground for several fish species, while at the same time helping to improve water quality and protecting beaches from erosion.

But eutrophication, overfishing and exploitation in coastal areas have meant that many eelgrass meadows have disappeared.

Edvard Molitor, head of sustainability at the Port of Gothenburg AB, is pleased with the development of the eelgrass project in Torslanda.

- There is no exact science about how to replant eelgrass, so we have been trying for several years.

That is why we are of course very happy to have come this far.

Why have you succeeded this time?

- We have experimented with different planting depths, density and size of the plantations.

The eelgrass protects each other and the larger the plantations, the less the risk that the plantations are destroyed by external factors such as currents, macroalgae or recreational boat traffic, says Edvard Molitor.

To date, 4,300 square meters of eelgrass beds have been planted and are made by hand by divers.

This is done as a compensation for the eelgrass that disappears in connection with the construction of a new port terminal in the port of Gothenburg.

- The idea is that we will recreate the same amount of eelgrass, so 1.7 hectares of healthy eelgrass is our goal.