Tampa Bay seagrass meadows have been selected by the TBEP as a biological indicator to help evaluate the progress of the nitrogen reduction strategy implemented for Tampa Bay (TBNEP, 1996).

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the TBEP recognized in the early 1990s the need of local resource managers to obtain timely information about trends and conditions of Tampa Bay seagrass meadows in addition to the aerial photography surveys and mapping information produced every other year by the Southwest Florida Water Management District - Surface Water Improvement Management Department.

In 1997, local scientists convened to establish protocols for a seagrass transect monitoring program in Tampa Bay using guidelines outlined in a 1994 TAC report addressing seagrass studies. Fixed transect monitoring began the following year as local agencies contributed equipment and personnel to the Tampa Bay Interagency Seagrass Monitoring Program. Three years of data have been collected documenting temporal and spatial changes in seagrass species composition and abundance in Tampa Bay.