Tag: cockburn sound

Snapper Guardians is back! Help us release 5,000 juvenile pink snapper into Cockburn Sound on Saturday 11 February!

Recfishwest is delighted to announce our 2023 Snapper Guardians community fish stocking event will go ahead this year at Woodman Point in Cockburn Sound on Saturday, 11 February following a two-year break.  

It is welcome news for mums, dads and kids who can again attend this popular event in person to help us release 5,000 juvenile pink snapper into Cockburn Sound, following the cancellation of the community event in 2021 and 2022 due to COVID.  

Even though we reluctantly had to cancel these public events, COVID didn’t stop us releasing pink snapper into the Sound with 100,000 released last year, while 20,000 were released in 2021.  

Event details

Where: 10am on Saturday, 11 February at Jervoise Bay, Woodman Point (see map below)

What to bring: All you need is your family, camera, hat, sunscreen, bathers and a snorkel if you want to get in the drink and get an underwater view of the juvenile snapper swimming off into their new home. 

Pink snapper have always been strongly associated with Cockburn Sound, which supports the West Coast Bioregion’s largest pink snapper spawning aggregation, and which is treasured by the local community as a safe, accessible and fantastic fishery on Perth’s doorstep. 

Kids just love being part of Snapper Guardians and getting their sleeves rolled up to help release the juvenile pinkies!

“The recreational fishing community has a strong track record in driving initiatives that safeguard demersal fish stocks,” said Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland, “and events like Snapper Guardians highlight to decision-makers how much local people care about the future of these fish and Cockburn Sound as a whole. This is particularly important given the recent west coast demersal changes and the Government’s plans to build a new port in Cockburn Sound.  

“It’s been great to see how the community has effectively made Snapper Guardians its own and we are proud and excited to welcome back community members of all ages to roll up their sleeves and enjoy the special experience of watching these pinkies swim off into the Sound.” 

 

The 2023 Snapper Guardians event will take place on 11 February at Jervoise Bay, Woodman Point. Click here to view the location on Google Maps.

A community-based fish stocking program

Snapper Guardians was launched in response to the 2015 fish kill that saw a horrific number of adult pink snapper wash up dead along the shoreline of Cockburn Sound.  

On the back of the community outcry that ensued, Recfishwest launched a crowd-funded fish stocking program in the sound. 

Today the program is supported by DPIRD’s aquaculture centre in Fremantle where the juvenile snapper are hatched and reared through the most vulnerable phase of their life cycle before being released to maximise their survival opportunity.  

Since the inaugural Snapper Guardians event held in 2016, more than 220,000 pink snapper have been released into Cockburn Sound for future generations of fishers to enjoy catching.

Watch the Snapper Guardians story below.

Thousands more pinkies to be released in the metro area 

The Government has committed to stocking another 35,000 juvenile at Cockburn Power Boats Club and at Fremantle Sailing Club around mid-February, bringing the total number of pink snapper making a splash in metro waters in 2023 to 40,000.  

A big Recfishwest thanks to Daiwa as our community fish stocking partners for their continuing support of our community events in 2023 and to the crew at DPIRD’s Fremantle fish hatchery who continue to help make Snapper Guardians happen .  

Please note, parents and carers are responsible for and must remain with their children at all times.  

Help sew the seeds for a healthier future for Cockburn Sound

Recfishwest is encouraging metro fishers to get involved and back in Ozfish’s latest Seeds for Snapper drive – its program to help restore critical seagrass habitat in Cockburn Sound.

Since 2018, Recfishwest has collaborated with OzFish and the University of Western Australia to restore seagrass meadows in Cockburn Sound, which are vital as a nursery ground for countless fish and species of marine life including pink snapper, King George whiting, herring, Western rock lobster, prawns, squid and blue swimmer crabs.

Now in it’s fifth year, Seeds for Snapper has already helped collect more than one million seeds in Cockburn Sound, but as volunteers are the driving force behind this project, Recfishwest is encouraging everyone to dig deep and help out by collecting the seeds or dispersing them.

By helping disperse these seeds through Cockburn Sound, you help create vast juvenile fish habitats. Photo courtesy of the OzFish website.

Watch OzFish’s video highlighting the importance of Cockburn Sound’s seagrass meadows here

The Seeds for Snapper program relies on community support from recreational anglers, divers, businesses and residents to help disperse the seeds, which are the key to helping rejuvenate juvenile fish habitats.

It is estimated that a single hectare of restored seagrass produces on average 207 kilograms of fish per year and stores 35 times more carbon than the same equivalent area of rainforest.

Over the last century, 85 per cent of these crucial seagrass meadows – equivalent to nearly 2,000 Optus Stadium-sized ovals – have been lost in Cockburn Sound.

With the Government recently proposing a shock eight to nine-month west coast demersal species ban per year and with the Government’s plans to build a new port in Cockburn Sound starting in 2027, the Seeds for Snapper program underpins why preserving the sustainability of these seagrass meadows is more important than ever.

“Cockburn Sounds seagrass meadows act as a nursery area for important species such as crabs, snapper, squid, whiting and garfish and supports the only known spawning aggregations of pink snapper in the West Coast Bioregion, said Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland.

“Merely maintaining the status quo is not an option after the huge loss of seagrass habitat in the Sound over the years. It is vital, therefore, that initiatives like this are supported and boosted to help improve the environmental state of Cockburn Sound.

“The Sound’s protected waters on the doorstep of our capital city offer great land and boat-based fishing for fishers of all ages and abilities and fishers can play their part to by helping collect and disperse seagrass seeds and breathe more life into these vital nursery grounds.”

There are various ways you can help out with Seeds for Snapper, whether it’s on the shore, on the boats or in the water! Photo courtesy of the OzFish website.

There were more than 350 registered volunteers dedicating their time last year with the Seeds for Snapper program through a variety of roles, including as boat-based netters, qualified scuba and free divers, shore crews and as seagrass seed dispersal units.

The seagrass fruit harvesting and seed dispersal season will take place from November. Collection and dispersal days and times are subject to weather and tides, so if you want to take part in the fifth year of this great program, Recfishwest encourages volunteers to dig deep and register through the link below.

Sign up as a Seeds for Snapper 2022 volunteer here!

The Seeds for Snapper program is funded by the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund (RFIF) using your licence fees and is made possible by Recfishwest, OzFish, the University of Western Australia, the WA Government’s Recreational Fishing Initiative Fund, Water Corporation and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.