A new chapter in Island environmental restoration is blooming in a laboratory on the shores of the Lagoon. There, in a cool tub of water at a Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group Hatchery, a small artificial meadow of eelgrass is beginning to flower.

The Tisbury select board voted unanimously Wednesday to impose an immediate moratorium on anchoring in Lake Tashmoo until the town has developed a policy to reduce the number of visiting boats.

The Edgartown Great Pond Foundation has worked with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to produce a first-of-its-kind map of eelgrass in Slough Cove.

Tisbury selectman have designated Drew’s Cove in Lake Tashmoo a no-anchoring zone for an indefinite period of time to protect fragile eelgrass beds near the head of the saltwater estuary.

Nashaquitsa Pond has become a laboratory for eelgrass restoration, although poor water quality and other factors appear to be keeping the aquatic species from re-establishing.

With support from the Edey Foundation, the Chilmark shellfish department plans to restore vital eelgrass beds that vanished from Nashaquitsa Pond.