Westport joins OzFish WA for Seeds for Snapper event

One of Australia’s largest community-led seagrass restoration initiatives is making waves in Cockburn Sound.  

Seeds for Snapper is a WA community-based restoration program, developed in collaboration with UWA researchers in 2018 and community-led by OzFish WA. 

Each year, volunteer divers, fishers and community members join forces to collect seagrass fruit and spread seeds across Cockburn Sound and Owen Anchorage, helping restore vital Posidonia australis meadows. Recently, the Westport team rolled up their sleeves to support this effort at the Mangles Bay Fishing Club. 

Over the past seven years, the program has collected more than 4 million seagrass fruits and disbursed more than 3 million seeds.

After the fruit is collected, it is stored in large tanks of moving water. This process helps the fruit mature, split its outer shell, and release seeds that sink to the bottom for collection.  

Our team helped sort through the fruit and remove empty shells to prepare the seeds for dispersal.  

This program supports Westport’s long-term commitment to scale-up seagrass restoration in Cockburn Sound, before and after development of the new port facilities.  

Westport has provided $500,000 to date to support the expansion of Seeds for Snapper. 

Find out more about Seeds for Snapper.

Learn more about Westport’s seagrass planning and management.