What are kelp forests?

Kelp forests are a key habitat for fish in the coastal environments of southern Australia and support numerous species important to recreational fishers, including rock lobster, abalone, trumpeter and calamari, all of which live among or nearby kelp forests.

 

Unfortunately, kelp forests in many locations in Australia are getting smaller. Some of the most dramatic declines have occurred in Tasmania.

The collapse of giant kelp forests is associated with ocean warming and loss of nutrients stemming from the increase of warm East Australian Current water in eastern Tasmania.

Scattered individuals and patches of giant kelp are still surviving but there are few records of their locations, making it difficult for scientists to sample the remaining forests and track their further decline or growth over time.

95% of the iconic giant kelp forests in Tasmania have disappeared, and are now listed as an endangered marine community.

RECOGNISING GIANT KELP

Fishers can recognise giant kelp based on their:

  • large wide leaves with air bladders at their base; and
  • stringy central stalk or stalks;

Typically, the stalks can be detected on a sounder, it appears as thin vertical shadows rising through the water column.

Any large floating seaweed canopy is likely to be giant kelp in Tasmania, but be aware that other species of large brown seaweed can sometimes become detached and will float.

When you see these strands of kelp, simply record the observation into Kelp Tracker, where scientists can use the data to locate and study the remnant kelp.

Introducing the Kelp Tracker

OzFish Unlimited and its project partners have made a call-out to Tasmanian Rec Fishers to help track the State’s disappearing giant kelp forests via the free phone app: Kelp Tracker.

Kelp Tracker allows recreational fishers and community members to ‘log’ their sightings of endangered and disappearing giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). Sightings are then verified by scientists and over time this data will help to create a map of the remaining giant underwater forests.

This will then allow scientists to locate and study the remnant giant kelp which can identify patches that might harbour warm water-tolerant kelp, and locate areas that might be suitable for habitat restoration.

Using the Kelp Tracker, rec fishers can quickly and easily install the free app and report any giant kelp sightings they see on their travels straight into their phones.

Download Kelp Tracker App

iPhone App

Android App

Giant kelp restoration advancing 

Recreational fishers are sighting new kelp each day and researchers from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) have identified several strains of giant kelp that can adapt to changing temperatures.

Tens of thousands of microscopic plants have been planted at three underwater sites – Fortescue Bay, Trumpeter Bay (off Bruny Island) and Port Esperance at Dover. It is hoped that these will grow over the next year, will be reproductive, self-sustaining and self-expanding into new forests giving hope for similar environments and restoration projects around the world.

LATEST NEWS

MARCH 17, 2020 | Rec fishers find endangered kelp

MARCH 17, 2020 | Rec fishers find endangered kelp

In a major win for fish and the environment, new sightings of endangered Giant Kelp have been reported by recreational fishers in Tasmania following the launch late last year of the Kelp Tracker phone app. Tasmanian recreational fishers were urged to help scientists trying to research and restore the State’s disappearing Giant Kelp forests by logging sightings of remnant kelp via the new phone app. CEO of OzFish Unlimited Craig Copeland said that it has been very successful so far with over 100 sightings from 22 separate fishers. “With over 95% of the Giant Kelp forests gone, finding the kelp that is left may prove the difference in their successful restoration,” he said. The kelp restoration project is being carried out by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania in collaboration with The Climate Foundation, OzFish Unlimited, Huon Aquaculture and TARfish.

Find Out More

This project would not be possible without the commitment from our project partners, the University of Tasmania, the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), the Tasmanian Association for Recreational Fishing (TARFish), the Climate Foundation and our corporate partner BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.