Cockburn Sound – home to WA’s largest pink snapper spawning grounds and busiest boat ramp – faces an unprecedented wave of industrial development.
At the centre of this is the Commonwealth Government’s plan for a new Defence precinct at Henderson.
Despite a year of announcements and a $12 billion funding pledge, fishers say there are still no answers on what the Defence build-up will mean for access, amenity and the environment in Cockburn Sound.
A year of announcements, no detail
In October 2024, the Prime Minister announced the Commonwealth would assume control of the Common User Facilities at the Australian Maritime Complex in Henderson to establish a Defence precinct supporting AUKUS commitments.
At the time, the Commonwealth also promised to work with the WA Government to deliver replacement facilities. One year on, the location and timing of these replacements remain unknown.
Recently, the Prime Minister was back in Perth, pledging a further $12 billion for expanding the Henderson Defence Precinct. Yet even with this huge commitment, there is still no clarity on the footprint of the precinct, how it will be managed, or how recreational access to Cockburn Sound will be safeguarded.
Access at risk
That lack of detail matters. The Defence precinct sits right next to Woodman Point, WA’s busiest recreational boat ramp. In 2024, nearly 30,000 boat launches were recorded there – more than 4,000 in December alone – along with almost 10,000 launches from the neighbouring Cockburn Power Boat Club. This stretch of coastline is the beating heart of WA’s recreational boating community.
Fishers are rightly concerned that Defence expansion could bring new exclusion zones or restrictions around the very waters most used by the public.
These concerns come on top of other proposed developments in Cockburn Sound, including a new international container port, replacement of the Kwinana Bulk Jetty, Australia’s largest ever dredging program to build a new shipping channel, and a suite of projects flagged in the Western Trade Coast Infrastructure Strategy.
Without transparency about Defence’s plans, it is impossible to understand how these projects will interact or what their combined effect on the Sound will be.
Environmental stakes
Cockburn Sound is not only critical for access, but also vital for fish habitat. Scientific research shows pink snapper spawning in the Sound are larger than those that spawn outside and produce 1.6 times more eggs than snapper spawning in nearby ocean waters. This makes the Sound the nursery for one of the West Coast’s most iconic fish and with WA’s demersal stocks already under “severe risk” it is even more important the Sound is protected from development.
With nuclear submarines set to be home-ported in WA within two years and billions in industrial expansion looming, fishers warn that further impacts on Cockburn Sound could jeopardise the recovery of already vulnerable stocks.
Call for a whole-of-Sound plan
Recfishwest believes the biggest threat facing Cockburn Sound is uncertainty. Piecemeal announcements without detail are blocking a clear understanding of what lies ahead.
We believe a coordinated, whole-of-Sound plan is needed that:
• Clarifies Defence precinct boundaries and access arrangements,
• Ensures recreational fishing values and boat access are front and centre,
• Accounts for the cumulative impacts of all planned developments, and
• Safeguards critical habitats like pink snapper spawning grounds.
“Cockburn Sound belongs to the community,” Recfishwest Operations Manager Leyland Campbell said. “It is where families launch their boats, where kids learn to fish, and where WA’s most iconic species gather to spawn. As governments push forward with major industrial and defence projects, fishers must not be left in the dark.”
If you care about fishing in the Sound, make sure you sign up to Save Cockburn Sound of which Recfishwest is a supporting partner.
