This summer, South Australians are being urged to carry a bucket with them on their beach strolls – and get the kids engaged in a real-life scavenger hunt for seagrass fruit that will be used to restore the local coastline.
OzFish, Australia’s fish habitat charity, are warning that unless they get more Posidonia seagrass fruits for this summer’s Seagrass for Snapper planting in the Gulf St Vincent, they may not have enough for their annual seagrass restoration work. They are asking the public to keep an eye out for the washed-up or floating seagrass fruits, identify them correctly then gather them in buckets of seawater. Seagrass can then be dropped at designated collection locations.
OzFish South Australia Manager Brad Martin said, “We urgently need fresh Posidonia seagrass fruits collected over the Christmas and New Year’s period. While we’ve gathered some early fruit, more is required – and Christmas is when the bigger fruits usually wash up or can be spotted floating on the water.”
The green Seagrass fruits wash up along Adelaide beaches where, if they aren’t collected quickly, they dry out and die. If rescued in time, the fruits are taken to OzFish locations and transferred to tanks for maturation and processing. The seeds are then extracted, sewn into sandbags and deployed back into the ocean.
Seagrass “meadows” stabilise shorelines, improve water quality, provide safe habitat for species including snapper, whiting and squid, and are a crucial element for carbon storage to tackle climate change – seagrass is estimated to store 35 times more carbon than rainforest.
“These gathered fruits and their seeds are essential for restoring the nearshore Posidonia that protects our beaches and provides important fish habitat. This year, we want to plant at least 10,000 healthy seeds back into the ocean floor.”
OzFish is also calling for the public to report seagrass fruit sightings.
“We’re so grateful to our current volunteers, but need more assistance over the coming weeks, and for future seasons. Tell us where you saw the fruits, so we can quickly gather it.”
Since the 1950s, about a third (6,200 ha) of seagrass meadows along SA’s metropolitan coast have been lost. OzFish’s Seagrass for Snapper project was established in SA in 2020 and with support from Green Adelaide, BCF, and other valued partners, is restoring these lost meadows.
What to look for:
The correct seagrass fruits can be identified using the OzFish guide. Intact fruits of Posidonia seagrasses are typically green, elongated or oval-shaped, and three cm long. Split fruit should be examined for a hard seed before collection.
How to report sightings:
Sightings of seagrass can be shared in the Seagrass for Snapper SA Volunteers Facebook group, uploaded to iNaturalist, or reported to OzFish.
How to collect fruits:
Fruit must be placed in a bucket of seawater before they dry-out and turn brown or mushy. Any collected fruits should be kept cool in fresh seawater and brought to an OzFish drop-off site within 1-2 days. For the Adelaide project, fruits must be collected from the St. Vincent Gulf. “It’s important that the fruit are individually picked up,” said Mr Martin, “to reduce debris mucking up the specialised seagrass tanks.”
Where to take seagrass fruits:
- Drop at OzFish seagrass tanks at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia (CYCSA) between 10:30am and 5pm.
- Drop into eskies with the OzFish logo on, at the CYCSA Gate 1 entrance sign, at Lady Gowrie Drive, North Haven or behind the Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club (BSYC) entrance at 246 Esplanade, Kingston Park.
Drop-off points to get fruit to tanks at North Haven, updates on fruit sightings and help identifying fruits are available on the Seeds for Snapper SA Volunteers Facebook group.
How to get involved:
People wishing to get involved in on-ground Seagrass for Snapper events, or other local fish habitat restoration activities, can become an OzFish member, and join the nearest chapter.
Media contact:
Brad Martin, OzFish South Australia Manager, 0487 165 896 bradmartin@ozfish.org.au
About OzFish:
OzFish is Australia’s only fishing conservation charity, committed to restoring fish habitats and protecting waterways and fishing for future generations.
This project is proudly supported by Green Adelaide, BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing, and other valued partners.
About us:
About OzFish
OzFish is a not-for-profit member organisation that partners with fishers and the broader community to invest time and money into the protection and restoration of waterways, counteracting decades of degradation with projects in habitat restoration, re-snagging, riverbank planting, clean-ups, fishways, shellfish reefs and educational and community capacity building programs. www.ozfish.org.au, to learn more, or become a member.
Contact details:
To learn more, or arrange an interview, email media@ozfish.org.au or call +61 490 783 417.