Largest estuarine system in southwest WA gets its own OzFish Chapter 

The Peel-Harvey region is a popular tourist destination just an hour’s drive south of Perth and is home to the largest and most complex estuarine system in the southwest of Western Australia.

These waters attract recreational fishers to target iconic species such as the blue swimmer crab, black bream, and yellowfin whiting. 

In recent years, however, the health of the Peel-Harvey estuary have been in a state of decline, having experienced ongoing water quality issues, devastating fish kills, and erosion of riparian zones.  

With support from the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council (PHCC), this decline sparked the Mandurah fishing community to come together and restore the habitat and work to protect the system from further decline.  

In kickstarting the restoration process, OzFish has been engaging with the local community to hear their habitat restoration ideas. 

OzFish members recently got involved in a riparian planting event hosted by the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council and BirdLife WA, where they assisted in tree planting and had discussions with members of the public about fish habitat restoration.  

OzFish Peel-Harvey Chapter is hoping to get several projects off-the-ground which will include shellfish restoration and a pilot program of the Reefclean ‘Look After Your Tackle’ initiative to help educate recreational fishers about the scale and impact of fishing litter in waterways. 

The chapter will be partnering with the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council, The Nature Conservancy and Tangaroa Blue Foundation to deliver these projects. 

Chairman of the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council, Caroline Knight, said “PHCC is committed to support OzFish Unlimited in their engagement with the recreational fishing community”. 

“The ‘Look after Your Tackle Program’ aims to reduce the amount of discarded fishing gear including tackle and bait bags into our waterways, reducing the threats of ingestion or entanglement of wildlife including shorebirds and dolphins”, said Caroline. 

The need for more and better habitat within the Peel-Harvey catchment is critical, and this is just another way OzFish and community partners are working towards a healthy, vibrant, and more productive fishery.  

The establishment of the Peel-Harvey Chapter has been supported by the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council through funding from the Western Australian Government through the Royalties for Regions Program.