Seeds for Snapper SA takes out top honour for habitat restoration
South Australia’s coastal crew have experienced some brief respite in early June—and it’s thanks to hundreds of locals who rolled up their sleeves for seagrass.
The Seeds for Snapper SA team have just taken out the 2025 SA Environment Working Together Award for their incredible efforts to restore South Australian seagrass meadows—and we reckon the fish would vote for them too.
Since launching in 2020, the program has united recreational fishers, community groups, Traditional Owners, scientists and local volunteers in a shared goal: bring back what’s been lost. And the results speak for themselves—60,000 seeds replanted, 2.3 hectares under restoration, and 7,775 volunteer hours delivered.
At the heart of this project are the iconic, (and imperilled), Posidonia seagrass meadows that once carpeted seafloors of the Adelaide and Fleurieu Peninsula coastlines. These meadows are crucial nursery grounds for species like snapper, King George whiting and blue swimmer crabs. But over 25,000 ha of South Australia’s seagrass meadows have degraded or vanished in recent decades—including much of Adelaide’s inshore seagrass.
The award itself comes as a welcome reprieve, with this year’s devastating fish kill crisis (read the explainer here) continuing to effect coastal regions in SA. The ongoing algal blooms have highlighted how urgently we need healthy, resilient aquatic ecosystems. The SA Seeds for Snapper project shows that progress is possible—when communities, fishers and scientists work together.
Over the recent summer, volunteers once again turned out in force to monitor seagrass fruit across the state, and to collect fruit for planting at Adelaide. The fruit were ripened in tanks at the Cruising Yacht Club of SA until they sprouted, then hand-planted into biodegradable sandbags and deployed offshore at carefully selected restoration sites. With 10,000 new plants now in the water, there’s hope yet for the fishes that rely on these vital habitats.
Join the award winning team
Seeds for Snapper SA is expected to return in late 2025 and we’re calling on all rec fishers, locals, school groups, beach walkers and businesses to join the next chapter.
Whether you’ve got 10 minutes or 10 hours to spare, your efforts will help restore fish habitat, improve water quality and future-proof our fisheries.
Make sure to register your interest with the Adelaide and Fleurieu programs.
The ‘Seeds for Snapper’ project is part of OzFish Unlimited’s national seagrass restoration program.
On the Adelaide coastline, the Seeds for Snapper project is funded by Green Adelaide and BCF – Boating, Camping & Fishing, and is supported by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), Department of Environment and Water, Friends of Port River, RecFishSA, Aquatic Biosecurity Pty Ltd and the Environmental Protection Authority-SA.
On the Fleurieu Peninsula, the Seeds for Snapper project is funded by Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu and BCF – Boating, Camping & Fishing, and is supported by the Department for Environment and Water, South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Flinders University, City of Victor Harbor Council, Alexandrina Council, RecFishSA, Aquatic Biosecurity Pty Ltd and the Environmental Protection Authority-SA.