Home / Programs / Seagrass for Snapper / Seeds For Snapper, Cockburn Sound – Western Australia / seagrass restoration 2020

More than 200 community volunteers took part in the third annual Seeds for Snapper, the most advanced national community-driven seagrass restoration program.

Seagrass meadow loss

Cockburn Sound is a major nursery and foraging grounds for many recreational fishing favourites, such as baby pink snapper, calamari, whiting and blue swimmer crabs. The seagrass meadows in the area have been significantly impacted due to environmental change and long-term ecological degradation. Without additional help, they will continue to decline.

 

The community all mobilised to take part in the important fish habitat restoration project. volunteers helped with a wide range of activities, including making seed collection nets, spending time down at the boat ramp talking to boaters about how to collect seeds, and assessing waterways.

Community mobilisation

Fishers and boat owners were critical in locating and collecting the seagrass fruit before the seeds were dropped. They were then processed at seed collection tanks at Cockburn Power Boat Association, which were set up by OzFish Perth Chapter members. The seeds were then dispersed around Omeo Wreck.

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9 OCTOBER 2020 | Seagrass restoration set to reseed a million more seeds into Cockburn Sound

9 OCTOBER 2020 | Seagrass restoration set to reseed a million more seeds into Cockburn Sound

Fishing conservation charity OzFish Unlimited has launched the 2020 Seeds for Snapper program with a weekend of seagrass restoration activities. Now in its third year, the annual program will commence again in November with the charity calling on the community for help. OzFish CEO and Founder Craig Copeland said only 15 percent of seagrass meadows of Cockburn Sound remain, but the organisation is on a mission to change that. “The Seeds for Snapper project in Cockburn Sound has an ambitious goal to restore 1 hectare of habitat with 1 million seeds every year and help bring back a once thriving ecosystem,” Mr Copeland said. “We cannot do this alone..

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This project is supported by Recfishwest and was made possible by the University of Western Australia, the Western Australian Government Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund and ongoing funding from BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.