In recent years rampant development of the coastlines for hotels, holiday homes, marinas and ports is having a serious impact on seagrass beds, substantially reducing them in area in some places. Increasing numbers of boats is also having an impact because anchors damage the seagrass bed, breaking a hole in the otherwise continuous cover of seagrass which helps to hold the bed together.

When a hole is made with an anchor, the edges of the hole become unstable and continue to erode, eventually leading to remnants of seagrass sitting up on muddy pedestals, with open sandy areas between. In the worst areas seagrass beds have disappeared altogether, causing serious loss of biodiversity and loss of habitat for some species.