Snapper fingerlings released in Cockburn Sound
45,000 juvenile pink snapper were released into Cockburn Sound as part of a research program on pink snapper stock management.
Westport is funding a three-year program to support the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which is investigating how enhancement programs could play a future role in managing stocks.
Each year, an aquaculture research team will collect fertilised eggs from Cockburn Sound. They are then hatched and grown out in the Fremantle Fish Hatchery, ready for release back into Cockburn Sound.
Rearing them this way improves their chances of survival during the most vulnerable point of their lifecycle. Only a fraction of eggs survive in the wild, in the hatchery survival is 10 to 30 per cent.
Westport’s planning for a future terminal in Kwinana’s Outer Harbour includes extensive environmental studies, forecasting the WA economy and considering the timing and approach to transitioning some trade from Fremantle’s Inner Harbour.
This is just one of the many initiatives Westport is supporting to better understand and support Cockburn Sound. Westport has entered into a $13.5million, three-year partnership with the WA Marine Science Institute to fill knowledge gaps of Cockburn Sound’s unique marine environment.
