Seeds for Snapper volunteers are successfully seeding critical seagrass meadows in Cockburn Sound having dispersed seeds across the equivalent area of 12 Optus footy fields since it was launched five years ago.
Scientists monitoring the project report an average return of anywhere between 10 and 200 per cent more juvenile plants growing in areas where seeds have been dispersed than previously.
However, there continues to be serious concerns that all their great work will be undone by some ongoing industrial development in the Sound, including large-scale dredging required for the Government’s Westport development.
Now in in its sixth year, Seeds for Snapper, run by Ozfish and supported by Recfishwest, involves volunteer divers and boaties gathering seagrass pods, removing the seeds from the ripened pods and then re-sewing them in key areas of the Sound to promote the restoration of the meadows.
This year, with the assistance of Cockburn Power Boats Club, Seeds for Snapper harvested and released 600,000 seeds into the Sound.