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This year’s Snapper Guardians community fish stocking event, planned to be held at Woodman Point in Cockburn Sound, will regrettably not be going ahead.
Unfortunately, a finfish virus – betandovirus – was detected at DPIRD’s Fremantle hatchery where the juvenile pink snapper are hatched and reared.
This means, in order to protect Cockburn Sound’s wild pink snapper stocks, unfortunately none of the infected fish can be released.
Snapper Guardians sees hundreds of mums, dads and kids helping stock thousands of juvenile pink snapper into Cockburn Sound each year. Unfortunately, we’ve had to pull the plug on the 2024 event due to a virus affecting the snapper set for release.
It is obviously a disappointing setback for Snapper Guardians and the wider metro pink snapper fish releases as no pink snapper will be available for release this year. This is because the snapper stocking program relies on collecting eggs from the wild spawning population in October and November each year.
However, Recfishwest will be working with DPIRD to ensure the pink snapper stocking program gets back on track soon, in addition to other stocking initiatives for several other species.
Recfishwest Chief Executive Officer Dr Andrew Rowland said while it was disappointing Snapper Guardians cannot go ahead this year, the priority is to protect the health of wild pink snapper stocks in Cockburn Sound.
“Since the Snapper Guardians program started in 2016, more than 220,000 pink snapper have been released into Cockburn Sound providing a family-friendly opportunity to celebrate pink snapper, Cockburn Sound and to make sure we have plenty of fish for future generations,” he said.
“We look forward to bringing back the Snapper Guardians community fish stocking event in 2025. Recfishwest will continue to work with DPIRD on other stock enhancement programs including yellowtail kingfish, marron and trout to ensure high quality recreational fishing experiences are maintained and enhanced for all West Australians to enjoy.”
What an awesome turn-out for Snapper Guardians 2023 – with the biggest crowd in the event’s history coming down to help us release juvenile pink snapper into Cockburn Sound!
What’s more it kicked off a ‘super-stocking’ week which has seen 40,000 juvenile pink snapper and 15,000 yellowtail king fish released into metro waters in less than seven days!
With COVID unfortunately disrupting the community attendance at the event in 2021 and 2022, Recfishwest was delighted to see hundreds of fishing families turn up to roll up their sleeves and help release 5,000 juvenile pinkies to show how much they value this iconic species, the Sound and the fantastic fishing experiences it supports on Perth’s doorstep.
A big Recfishwest thanks to the 400+ attendees that helped us release 5,000 juvenile pink snapper into Cockburn Sound for Snapper Guardians 2023!
This was followed by another 35,000 pink snapper released between Fremantle Sailing Club and the Cockburn Power Boats Club earlier this week, while 15,000 yellowtail kingfish were also released on Wedneday between the same locations to spice up future fishing experiences in metro waters.
“The fantastic response we had to Snapper Guardians 2023 shows the community’s care and passion for Cockburn Sound and the fantastic, safe, accessible fishery it supports is stronger than ever before,” said CEO Dr Andrew Rowland. “A big shout out to everyone who came down from the community to support this year’s event.”
“Fishing is always better when the fish are biting and we don’t just want to see sustainable fisheries – we want abundant ones. That’s why it’s great to see the Government’s commitment to fish stocking initiatives like the pink snapper and yellowtail kingfish programs.
Check out the behind-the-scenes footage from the DPIRD Fremantle hatchery and the kingie cannon firing new yellowtail kingfish into their new home on the YouTube link below!
“We want to see more of this in the future and a well-developed scientific monitoring program that can give us a better understanding of the effectiveness and potential scalability of these popular iniativies,” added Andrew.
A big Recfishwest shout out also to the team from DPIRD’s Fremantle hatchery, who collected the pink snapper eggs in early November of 2022, hatched and reared the pinkies in their aquaculture tanks through the most vulnerable stage of their lives, before transporting the 90-day-old fish down to Jervoise Bay, Woodman Point for release into their new home.
The team at DPIRD’s Fremantle hatchery collected the pink snapper eggs back in November of 2022, hatched and reared them until they reached 90-days-of-age and transported 5,000 down to Cockburn Sound for release during Snapper Guardians!
We would also like to thank our community fish stocking partners Daiwa, for helping us make this event possible.
Rest assured, with the State Government promising more funding and support for future stocking events such as Snapper Guardians, we will ensure this great event continues for many years to come and becomes even bigger and better.
Were you one of the Snapper Guardians who rolled up your sleeves over the weekend? Check out some of the action and big smiles from our latest event below and thank you to all attendees who put on the bathers and snorkels to help make the 2023 Snapper Guardians event one for the ages.
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.”
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.
What an awesome turn-out for Snapper Guardians 2020 – the biggest and best yet!
Hundreds of fishing families turned up to help us release 5,000 juvenile pink snapper into Cockburn Sound – showing how much they value the Sound and the fantastic fishery on Perth’s doorstep it supports. A massive thanks from us for all your support – it is a privilege for us at Recfishwest to be able run this event with the community.
The new Minister for Fisheries Peter Tinley came down with his family to show his and the Government’s support for this important initiative and we would like to thank the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) for collecting the eggs, hatching and rearing the fish in their aquaculture tanks and bringing the fish down on the day. We’d also like to thank our volunteers and our supporting partners Santos and Shimano Australia, who all helped make it happen.
Rest assured, we’ll be doing all we can to ensure this great event can happen again next year, the year after and for many years to come. Check out the gallery below – the big smiles everywhere says it all!
Over the years there have been a number of proposals for a new harbour in Cockburn Sound. There is currently a taskforce (Westport) who aim to tell the government what the future transport needs of Western Australia will be and how to best achieve them.
The Westport taskforce will be holding three community information sessions across July and August in Fremantle, Kwinana and Bunbury and keen and interested fishers are encouraged to head down to let this taskforce know what you think. Due to venue limits, RSVP’s are essential.
Details of the upcoming information sessions can be found below:
Session details
Westport invite you to drop-in at any time during the two-hour sessions to speak with members of the Westport team.
Fremantle
Date and time: Wednesday 11 July 2018 – 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue: Stackwood – 10 Stack Street, Fremantle 6160
Kwinana
Date and time: Wednesday 18 July 2018 – 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue: Darius Wells Centre, Ken Jackman Room – Cnr Chisham Avenue and Robbos Place, Kwinana 6167
Bunbury
Date and time: Wednesday 1 August 2018 – 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue: Maker + Co – 75B Victoria Street, Bunbury 6230
Due to venue limits, RSVPs are essential. Please email or call 6551 6479 to register and indicate which session you wish to attend.
For more information visit the Department of Transport website here: https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/…/westport-port-and-environ…
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Recfishwest have secured a position on the environmental work group for the Westport taskforce so you can be sure this task force is well aware of the importance of snapper breeding grounds, seagrass nursery meadows, iconic wrecks and a number of other factors that make Cockburn Sound so important for fishing. Recfishwest has already provided a submission on the preparation of the Westport Strategy and we will provide submissions at every stage of the process until the final report is released towards the end of 2019.
Now is the time to provide input and ensure decision makers have the best available information with which to make the best possible decision. Should bad decisions be made because no one has given the taskforce the right information in the first place then we will only have ourselves to blame.
While we do not know what the final recommendation of the Westport taskforce will be, Recfishwest will continue to fight to protect the fishing experiences provided by Cockburn Sound just as we have been doing for decades.
A few people have asked where Recfishwest stand on an Outer Harbor.
To read Recfishwest’s position on the Outer Harbour issue see below:
Hundreds of families turned out to release thousands of juvenile Pink Snapper on the 10th of February at Snapper Guardians 2018. The perfect weather conditions allowed kids and parents to get right in the water and watch their fish swim off into the wild.
So far over 100,000 Pink Snapper have been grown out and released through the Snapper Guardians program.
This program is continuing to build community stewardship for one of WA’s iconic species.
Cockburn Sound’s Pink Snapper stocks are one of the most important fisheries in WA as these waters are home to the largest spawning aggregations of snapper on the West Coast.
“Fishing for Pink Snapper off the Perth coast is continually improving and there’s no reason why this fishery couldn’t be the best Pink Snapper fishery in Australia.” Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland.
Photo courtesy of Julie Van Oosten Photography.
Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly was once again on the beach seeing first-hand how important this event is to the community, especially the children, many of whom got the chance to release their very first fish providing a positive experience that will stay with them for a lifetime.
Minster Kelly with Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland releasing some juvenile Pink Snapper.
“It was fantastic to join the hundreds of mums, dads, kids and avid fishers down at the beach for such a fun and important recreational fishing initiative.
Recreational fishing is an important part of WA’s way of life and an important economic driver. Which is why the McGowan Government supports recreational fishing projects through the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund.
Each and every licence holder contributes to this fund with 25 percent of recreational licence fees placed into this fund.
I congratulate Recfishwest and Fisheries staff at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development for their hard work on this project.”
Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland expressed what his team are working so hard to protect.
“As your peak body organisation representing you, it’s our role to stand up and protect important waterways around WA such as Cockburn Sound’s Pink Snapper spawning grounds.” Dr Rowland said.
Photo courtesy of Julie Van Oosten Photography.
“We know there’s been a long running history of competing uses in the sound and getting the balance right will always be a challenge. Programs like Snapper Guardians play an important role in highlighting the importance of Cockburn Sound to our sector.”
“The team at Recfishwest would like to thank the hundreds of families that came down and did their bit for Pink Snapper in Cockburn Sound. We’re always thrilled to see the community rolling up their sleeves and making a difference!”
Photo courtesy of Julie Van Oosten Photography.
Snapper Guardians 2018 was made possible through funding from the State Government and the ongoing support of the WA community.
