Creating seagrass pastures anew for Cockburn Sound

Last weekend, recfishing families joined Ozfish Unlimited at the Cockburn Power Boats Association to take part in an exciting seagrass restoration project called ‘Seeds for Snapper’.

The project aims to reseed Cockburn Sounds Seagrass meadows which support a wide variety of important fish species including whiting, pink snapper, garfish, calamari and blue swimmer crabs.

Cockburn Sound hosts the largest pink snapper spawning aggregations in the West Coast Bioregion.

Fishers and divers helped with all elements of the project from the seagrass ‘fruit’ (seeds) collection, placing seeds in tanks with circulating seawater to separate the seed and dispersing of the seed in predetermined locations within Cockburn Sound. It is hoped that one million seeds can be processed, potentially restoring 10,000 m2 (1 Ha) of lost seagrass habitat per annum for the next three years.

The Seeds for Snapper Family Seeding Day builds on last year’s Seeds for Snapper project which saw approximately 200,000 Posidonia australis seeds collected and dispersed over three trial-seeding sites.

Three months after last year’s seeding activities, establishment and survival of the seagrass seedlings ranged between 6.5 per cent and 20 per cent, which is far better than what has been achieved in the past in attempting to establish new Posidonia australis seagrass meadows.

Below you can see the comparison on two dispersal sites.

Recent research has demonstrated that direct seeding into areas of lost seagrass is likely to be the most cost effective method that may one day be scaled-up to make the biggest long-term difference. Read about it here.

Cockburn Sounds Seagrass meadows  support a wide variety of important fish including squid.

The WA community have a close affiliation with Cockburn Sound, with plenty of good work done previously to protect pink snapper stocks, including pushing for an extension to the annual pink snapper seasonal closure in Cockburn Sound and Warnbro Sound and our famous Snapper Guardians initiative.

The recfishing community greatly values the Cockburn Sound fishery and it’s great to see recfishers once again stepping up to look after the fish habitats that underpin our great fishing experiences.

Cockburn Sound pink snapper and seagrass fact file

Cockburn Sound hosts the largest pink snapper spawning aggregations in the West Coast Bioregion.

The seagrass meadows of Cockburn Sound are well recognised as critical foraging and nursery grounds for pink snapper and other fish, mollusc and crustacean species.

Cockburn Sound’s seagrass meadows have declined by nearly 80 per cent from 4000ha in the 1960’s to less than 1,000ha today.

That’s an area equivalent to 1,840 Optus Stadium football fields of seagrass habitat that has been lost in only a few decades. Important species affected by the seagrass loss include not only pink snapper, but others such as squid, garfish and blue swimmer crabs.

Appreciation of the role seagrass meadows play in providing great fishing opportunities is growing in WA due to increased understanding of the critical link between our seagrass habitats and coastal fisheries.

 

Continue Reading

April 10, 2025

Recfishwest’s latest TV and radio commercials encourage fishers to stick to the beaches when chasing salmon this Easter

As thousands of fishers are heading to WA’s Southern and South-West coasts this Easter to chase massive schools of migrating salmon, Recfishwest is urging fishers to “keep the sand between their toes” by fishing…

Read More

April 01, 2025

Recfishwest welcomes new Fisheries Minister

Recfishwest welcomes the recently appointed new Minister for Fisheries, the Hon. Jackie Jarvis MLC.   Minister Jarvis was appointed the new Fisheries Minister following a cabinet reshuffle after the recent State…

Read More

April 01, 2025

Billfish tags and fish samples galore at GAMEX 2025

For 57 years, GAMEX has cemented itself as one of Australia’s biggest and best fishing tournaments. Recfishwest Operations Officer Levi De Boni, an avid game fisher himself, was on the frontlines with our Fishing…

Read More

March 27, 2025

King Reef’s “underwater laboratory” boosts scientific understanding of artificial reef benefits

Exmouth’s King Reef is proving a win for both recreational fishing and marine science, with a growing body of research highlighting the ecological value of artificial reefs built with repurposed steel structures…

Read More

March 26, 2025

Recfishwest in national media – AUKUS defence must not come at the expense of Cockburn Sound

Recfishwest has joined growing calls for a full public environmental review of the AUKUS submarine development’s impacts on Cockburn Sound.  In an Australian Financial Review article earlier this month, Recfishwest…

Read More

March 24, 2025

Fishing leaders welcome long overdue national workshops on tackling shark bite-off

WA fishing experts and Recfishwest have welcomed the opportunity to have their say on beginning to combat the wicked problem of shark bite-off at a series of workshops throughout WA and several other states.   The…

Read More