MMA Offshore and fishing conservation charity, OzFish, together with the City of Cockburn, have announced a new partnership to support seagrass restoration in Owen Anchorage at the northern end of Cockburn Sound in Perth, Western Australia.
Photo courtesy of OzFish
As a part of Australia’s largest seagrass restoration project, the OzFish ‘Seeds for Snapper’ initiative is working towards restoring seagrass habitats in marine environments in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia. Up to 85 per cent of seagrass meadows have been lost from Cockburn Sound in the last century, and OzFish is leading the effort to restore the region as a healthy habitat and to support growing numbers of native fish.
MMA Offshore is coming onboard as a major sponsor for the 2022 Seeds for Snapper program. Staff and community volunteers with support from Perth Natural Resources Management (NRM) and Recfishwest will seed the City of Cockburn’s new wave attenuation reef at C.Y. O’Connor Beach. Installed by MMA Offshore, the engineered fringing reef is a trial of a nature-based solution for coastal erosion control.
City of Cockburn Head of Sustainability and Environment, Mr Chris Beaton, said the Seeds for Snapper project would have a substantially positive impact on the natural environment in the region, benefitting the community and the local marine habitat.
“The seagrass will help stabilise the seabed, provide additional habitat and further protect this fragile piece of coastline that is so important to our community,” Mr Beaton said.
MMA and OzFish are also pleased to announce an additional community volunteering event to take place on Saturday 3rd December which will celebrate the seeding of the reef and will provide members of the community an opportunity to get involved in the process.
MMA Managing Director, Mr David Ross, said the seagrass restoration project demonstrates MMA’s commitment to healthy marine environments, resilient coastlines and our local communities.
“As a marine services company, MMA Offshore is passionate about conserving and protecting the oceans in which we operate. Our collaboration with OzFish on the Seeds for Snapper project is a unique and exciting opportunity for MMA to tangibly restore our local marine environment, right here in Perth,” Mr Ross said.
Commenting on the collaboration, OzFish Program Manager for Western Australia, Mr Steve Pursell, highlighted the organisations’ shared commitment to supporting healthy oceans.
“OzFish is delighted to have MMA Offshore onboard as a major sponsor this year and we’re looking forward to a fantastic day out on the water in December. Both OzFish and MMA have a shared passion for protecting our ocean environments and we’re excited to be working together on this critical restoration project at C.Y. O’Connor Beach,” Mr Pursell said.
Members of the public interested in volunteering at the MMA Offshore and OzFish community seeding day in December can learn more about the initiative and sign up at: https://ozfish.org.au/event/seeds-for-snapper-wa-community-seeding-day-dec-2022/.
Seeds for Snapper is an OzFish collaborative project with the University of Western Australia and RecFishWest, and is made possible by the WA Government’s Recreational Fishing Initiative Fund, Water Corporation and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.
About MMA Offshore:
MMA Offshore is a global provider of high-specification vessels and a comprehensive suite of marine and subsea services to the offshore energy sector, government and defence and wider maritime industries.
About OzFish:
OzFish is Australia’s only fishing conservation charity – dedicated to empowering and supporting recreational anglers and their communities to take control of the health of their rivers, lakes and estuaries.
For further information please contact:
MMA Offshore
Mr David Ross
Managing Director
+61 8 9431 7431
OzFish
Mr Steve Pursell
Program Manager – WA
+61 405 900 112