Check out the stunning marine life brimming around the artificial reefs off Mandurah and Perth!

Check this out, metro fishers – large schools of fish being spotted on our Perth “Fish Towers” and Mandurah artificial reefs picked up by our latest scientific monitoring using baited underwater cameras!

Recfishwest’s regular and ongoing monitoring of the “Rotto Fish Towers” and Mandurah artificial reefs – with the assistance of Indo-Pacific Environmental – has shown big schools of fish with pink snapper, yellowtail kingfish, Samsonfish, skippy, baldchin groper and many other popular species captured swimming around these reefs that recreational fishers love to catch.

Tackleworld Miami owner Ashley Ramm says the reefs are a great attraction for local fishers with small to medium size boats.

“It’s great to see the Mandurah artificial reef thriving in an area where there isn’t much structure on the seafloor,” said Ashley. “It’s particularly good to see good numbers of yellowtail kingfish there, as unlike around Perth, there aren’t many spots off Mandurah where kingies naturally occur.

“Having somewhere to fish where these popular pelagic species turn up fairly regularly off Mandurah is a great development. The more we learn about artificial reefs and their potential benefits to our complex marine environment the better.”

WA’s network of artificial reefs, using concrete modules and/or steel, continues to support flourishing marine habitats that underpin fantastic fishing experiences.

“This latest footage showcasing a wide range of species flourishing across these metro-based artificial reefs is why Recfishwest is working hard with regional coastal communities, industry partners and the Government to develop more artificial reefs all around the State. There are several artificial reefs proposing to use concrete modules and/or repurposed steel in the pipeline around WA that we’re hoping will hit the seafloor in the next 12 months,” said Recfishwest’s Policy and Approvals Officer Danielle Hartshorn.

Scientific monitoring programs like the one that captured this exciting vision are an integral part of our vision to conserve and enhance marine habitat to support ecosystem productivity and great fishing.

Want to know more about the artificial reefs currently deployed around WA and their coordinates? Check out our Artificial Reefs webpage by clicking here!

Bumper Snapper Guardians 2023 kicks off ‘super-stocking’ week

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!

CHECK OUT OUR LIVE FACEBOOK FEED FROM THIS YEAR’S SNAPPER GUARDIANS

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.