Anera Ward from OzFish is joining the Dive Section on Wednesday 7 October to share the story behind Seeds for Snapper and OzFish’s seagrass restoration work in Cockburn Sound.

It’s an important topic and one particularly close to home for our diving and boating community.

The restoration of one of Australia’s most important and threatened aquatic habitats is underway across the country. Since the 1880s, it is estimated that around 30 per cent of Australia’s seagrass meadows have been lost, representing hundreds of thousands of hectares of vital habitat across some of Australia’s most important commercial and recreational fisheries.

OzFish is Australia’s recreational fishing charity, mobilising the recreational fishing community to undertake fish habitat restoration and help create better habitat for better fishing.

Seagrass meadows provide important feeding and nursery grounds for species including pink snapper, whiting, blue swimmer crabs, prawns, garfish, rock flathead, squid and leafy seadragons. They also help protect coastlines from erosion and play an important role in carbon storage.

OzFish’s longest-running seagrass restoration initiative, Seeds for Snapper, has been operating in Cockburn Sound since 2018 and is now Australia’s largest and longest-running seagrass restoration project.

Community volunteers play an important role in the project. In 2022, volunteers contributed more than 2,500 hours, including 404 dives to collect fruit, and helped deploy more than 1.2 million seeds into Cockburn Sound.

Join the Dive Section on Wednesday 7 October to hear more about this important restoration work happening right on our doorstep.

All FSC members welcome. No registration required.