Synergy helps restore Cockburn Sound seagrass with OzFish Unlimited partnership
Synergy is helping restore the seagrass in Cockburn Sound through Australia’s biggest seagrass restoration project.
Synergy is partnering with Ozfish Unlimited to improve the biodiversity of Cockburn Sound, the most intensively used multiple-use marine embayments in WA.
As well as providing funding to the Seeds for Snapper project, Synergy staff will help with seagrass fruit harvesting by collecting, counting and processing seagrass fruit.
Chief Executive Officer David Fyfe said the organisation was proud to be able to play a hands on role.
“Synergy has been operating in the Cockburn - Kwinana area for more than 50 years so we know what a unique ecosystem the Cockburn Sound is,” Mr Fyfe said.
“Our goal is to drive positive, sustainable outcomes for the people and the environment across our area of operations, and the Seeds for Snapper project does just that.”
Cockburn Sound is ecologically significant because it is:
• A spawning ground for pink snapper – the largest in the South West.
• A nursery for marine life – such as pink snapper, calamari, whiting and blue swimmer crabs.
• Home to seagrass meadows – which absorb carbon and help fight climate change.
With more than 85 per cent of the seagrass meadows lost from Cockburn Sound in the past century, Seeds for Snapper aims to restore the meadows with innovative replanting techniques developed by seagrass experts from the University of Western Australia.
OzFish Unlimited program manager Steve Pursell said restoring seagrass can help improve local fish populations and help to mitigate the effects of climate change by rebuilding carbon stocks, while also stabilising sand and preventing erosion.
“Since launching in 2018, OzFish’s Seeds for Snapper project is making a real difference to the area,” Mr Pursell said.
“Last year our volunteers dispersed more than one million seagrass seeds and this year we hope to disperse even more.
“The work of community volunteers alongside the OzFish team and partners is helping to undo years of abuse and neglect.”
For more details about OzFish Unlimited visit: Fremantle Chapter | OzFish Unlimited
For information about Synergy’s community investment visit: Synergy - Community investment