Hills & Fleurieu
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Seeds for Snapper

Register as a Fleurieu Peninsula Seeds for Snapper volunteer here.

Read our latest media release to learn more about the 2023-24 project, including some very exciting news about seagrass being used to preserve a shipwreck on the Fleurieu!

Seagrass meadows provide valuable ecosystem services such as protecting our shorelines from erosion and storms by stabilising sand; sequestering atmospheric carbon and nutrients; Improving water quality by reducing nutrients and turbidity. They are also important foraging and nursery grounds for fish species including baby pink snapper, whiting, blue swimmer crabs, prawns, King George whiting, garfish, squid, and leafy seadragons.

Watch a video about Seeds for Snapper below:

Partnering with OzFish, we will be rolling out the Seeds for Snapper program, as an extension of the community seagrass restoration work that was implemented in Western Australian and South Australia. This model is based on engaging the local community, with a campaign to be launched to recruit volunteers to help with all elements of this program across local beaches and popular fishing locations. The project will result in the rehabilitation trial of degraded coastal seagrass areas in either the Encounter Bay and/or Normanville to Carrickalinga areas (depending on seed and rhizome availability), South Australia. Each year in in late November to early January Posidonia seagrass produces a fruiting body that floats to the sea surface.

Seeds and seedlings (or rhizomes) will be collected by volunteers (beachcombers and boaters) after they are washed ashore or collected on the water by local fishers as the seeds are dispersed by tides and ocean currents. Once collected the seed is stored in collection tanks, processed and planted into sand bags using techniques designed for the community and supported by the latest science to be placed in the ocean at the right depth and location.

The Seeds for Snapper’ project is part of OzFish Unlimited’s national seagrass restoration program, funded on the Fleurieu Peninsula by Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu and BCF with support from Department for Environment and Water, Flinders University, SARDI Aquatic Sciences, local councils and community volunteers.

For more information on the Seeds for snapper project across Southern Australia click here.

Project goals:

Germination and seed release times for Posidonia seagrass in the Fleurieu region

Engagement of local community beachcombers and boaters in the project (workshops, collection, sand bag seeding and release)

Greater understanding and awareness within the community of the role and value of seagrass meadows.

Successful germination and establishment of seagrass from sand bags released.

Download this handy Beachcombing ID chart to learn about all the little things on our beaches

Seeds for Snapper

Useful links