World Seagrass Day – What it looks like at OzFish
World Seagrass Day 2023 is a global event that aims to raise awareness about seagrass ecosystems and their importance in maintaining healthy marine environments.
The day celebrates the diverse range of benefits that seagrass provides – habitat for marine life, a carbon sink, and as a contributor to food security for coastal communities. The day also seeks to highlight the threats facing seagrass ecosystems, such as climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction, and promote actions to conserve and restore these vital habitats.
At OzFish, we aim to deliver seagrass restoration programs across the country as a way of showing our support for the vital habitat. These projects involve activities such as planting seagrass seeds, removing invasive species or barriers to growth, and restoring damaged seagrass meadows. We collaborate with local communities, government agencies, and scientific institutions to ensure that restoration efforts are informed by local knowledge and expertise – that’s the OzFish way.
At its core, our seagrass restoration projects are aimed at improving water quality, providing habitat for marine life, and enhancing the resilience of coastal ecosystems to climate change and other stressors.
To celebrate World Seagrass Day, let’s take a look at what we have done, are doing, and will be doing around the country.
Seeds for Snapper in Western Australia
This project is restoring seagrass habitats in Cockburn Sound by collecting seagrass seeds and transplanting them into degraded areas to establish new seagrass beds. The restored seagrass beds are intended to provide a habitat for juvenile snapper, a species of fish that is commercially and recreationally important in the area. The focus here is Posidonia Australis. The Seagrass in the region produces fruit once a year, but many of them cannot germinate as they get washed ashore or far out to sea. OzFish volunteers collect these fruits, which are then processed onshore and matured in large tanks. The seeds are dispersed on the ocean floor at various local sites, and local seagrass experts and OzFish volunteer citizen scientists monitor the area to ensure successful growth.
Find out more about the project and who we work with here.
Seeds for Snapper project in South Australia
Our sister project aims to improve the habitat of snapper populations in both the Fleurieu Peninsula region and along Adelaide’s metro coastline. The project involves collecting seagrass fruit and germinating them in tanks before returning fresh seeds to restoration sites. Many seagrass fruits are swept far out to sea, where when the fruit opens, the seeds sink to the deep ocean floor where sunlight does not reach. Without sufficient light, these seeds also do not grow. To address this challenge, we mobilise beachcombers and boaters to collect the fruit they find and place them in a bucket with some water. The fruits are then processed onshore in tanks, and the resulting seeds are sewn into environmentally friendly biodegradable sandbags. These are then placed back in the ocean, at the correct depth, at identified locations.
Find out more about the project and who we work with here.
Mourilyan Harbour Seagrass Restoration
This initiative aims to restore seagrass meadows in Mourilyan Harbour, Queensland, Australia. Over the last three years, we’ve collaborated with researchers to test innovative seagrass restoration methods, one of which is attaching Zostera muelleri seagrass to biodegradable potato starch frames and placing them back into the water. The estuary is situated in far North Queensland, about 15km southeast of Innisfail and 100 km southeast of Cairns. Its size is comparable to Trinity Inlet (Cairns). Seagrasses grow in the lower section of the Moresby River, which is a brief coastal catchment in the wet tropics located within the Johnstone drainage basin, classified as a nationally important wetland habitat.
Find out more about the project and who we work with here.
Environmentally Friendly Moorings
This project aims to reduce damage to seagrass habitats caused by traditional boat moorings, which can disturb the seafloor and lead to erosion and loss of seagrass. The project involves installing and promoting the use of eco-moorings, which are designed to minimize the impact on the environment. Eco-moorings feature a floating buoy that is tethered to the seabed using a rope or chain that is threaded through a helix screw anchor, which is drilled into the seafloor. This system reduces the amount of physical disturbance to the seafloor and helps to preserve seagrass habitats, which are important for marine biodiversity and fisheries. The project also involves education and outreach efforts to promote the use of eco-moorings and raise awareness about the importance of seagrass habitats and their conservation.
Find out more about the project and who we work with here.
Corner Inlet Posidonia Partnership
The project involves collecting and propagating seeds from local seagrass meadows and transplanting them into degraded areas to establish new meadows. The involvement of recreational and commercial fishers in the restoration of seagrass beds has been vital in areas like Port Welshpool. During late December and early January, these fishers collect seagrass fruit which is then placed in tanks near the boat ramp, thanks to the support of Gippsland Ports. After germination, fresh seeds are taken back to the restoration sites by fisher volunteers, and then returned to the water where they settle on the seafloor. To ensure that the seeds are not washed away by the impact of tidal water, biodegradable hessian sandbag snakes are used. These snakes, measuring around 2 metres in length, are filled with local river sand by volunteers and fishers. This experimental technique has been successful in previous Posidonia restoration efforts in Corner Inlet, as it creates vital shelter to assist seedlings during the establishment phase.
Find out more about the project and who we work with here.
Tasmania Seagrass Restoration Trial
This project aims to restore seagrass habitats in Georges Bay and the Tamar Estuary in Tasmania, Australia. OzFish and the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) are partnering to conduct the first large-scale seagrass restoration trial. The project aims to determine the best approach to restoring seagrass in the region and will try different restoration techniques at various sites with differing sediment nutrient levels. The trial will also research how sediment nutrient levels affect seagrass restoration efforts and provide critical data to inform future large-scale seagrass restoration projects in Australia. The project received funding from the QBE Foundation and will help to improve disaster preparedness, resilience, and recovery for coastal communities.
Find out more about the project and who we work with here.
Become a member today and get involved with projects like these across Australia.