Environmentally friendly moorings for fish habitat restoration of seagrasses in North West Bay

Image credit: PixbayBlade on Pixabay
SUMMARY

NRM South is working with partners to install Environmentally Friendly Moorings (EFMs)  in North West Bay, and the changes in the seagrass communities are being monitored. These moorings are effective in restoring seagrass habitat, and over the last few years the CSIRO has developed solutions to make it easier and cheaper to install them. It is hoped that as a result of this project, EFMs will become more widely used across the region.

 

BACKGROUND

Traditional swing moorings damage the seabed and seagrass, leaving patches which disrupt habitat connectivity, erode sediment and damage valuable fish nursery habitat. Seagrass communities are important nursery habitat for fish and squid, and can be damaged by traditional chain mooring systems, which scour the seabed.

North West Bay is a popular and important recreational fishing area and this project will engage recreational fishers to adopt and advocate for a transition to EFMs and participate in State-based planning. It will build the capacity of recreational fishers to educate their community about the value of seagrass habitat. Recreational fishers will measure the impact of transition to EFMs by participating in monitoring activities, including gathering underwater footage for fauna surveys and seagrass extent, for use by scientists.

PARTNERS

OzFish Unlimited, CSIRO, Kingborough Council

 

FUNDING

Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program

 

PROJECT DURATION

2021-2023

 

APPROACH

This project is addressing the following issues;

  • Chain moorings scour seagrass communities, reducing their extent and creating patchiness in the habitat that can destabilise entire meadows. This can result in catastrophic collapse of meadows during extreme weather events
  • Chain moorings erode sediment and remove valuable fish nursery habitat.
  • The demand for new moorings is increasing at a rate of 3-4% per annum.
  • Chain moorings exclude fish species from habitat by direct mechanical disturbance and, at larger scales, through increased noise
  • Extraction of fish stocks through recreational fishing.

PROJECT UPDATES

  • MEDIA RELEASE: New generation of boat mooring saving vital seagrass communities

    Seagrass, oyster and sponge habitat in North West, Oyster Cove and Barnes Bay are on the path to recovery thanks to the installation of Environmentally Friendly Moorings (EFM) over the winter, thanks to a project being led by NRM South. Tasmanian boats are often moored on traditional style ‘chain moorings’,

  • Environmentally Friendly Moorings – why make the switch?

    Twelve mooring leaseholders in the Channel region of North West Bay have put up their hands to swap their chain moorings over to CSIRO-engineered environmentally-friendly moorings (EFMs). These moorings provide a safe and reliable alternative to help protect sensitive habitats – such as those that can be found in the

  • Refining monitoring for EFMs

    Marine life in North West Bay will soon be celebrating, with twelve environmentally-friendly moorings (EFMs) being installed this month. As part of our partnership project with CSIRO, OzFish Unlimited, and twelve mooring lease-holders who have volunteered to swap their traditional moorings for an EFM, we are working to restore areas

  • MEDIA RELEASE: Improved mooring options to save valuable seagrass

    Natural Resource Management South, working in partnership with CSIRO and OzFish Unlimited, are calling on volunteers with moorings at North West Bay to swap their traditional moorings for a new environmentally friendly mooring as part of an Australian Government funded fish habitat restoration project. North West Bay, near the southern

  • MEDIA RELEASE: Funding for fish habitat restoration projects

    NRM South is pleased to announce its success in securing funding to restore fish habitat in North West Bay and Pitt Water-Orielton Lagoon in Southern Tasmania. The funding, announced this week by Senator Jonathon Duniam, will contribute a total of $630K to manage the re-flooding of stranded saltmarsh communities in

ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE

  • 12 EFMs have been installed acroos North West Bay.
  • Baseline flora and fauna data collected prior to EFM installation.
  • A skills and knowledge survey was distributed to a randomly-selected portion of mooring lease holders in Tasmania to determine existing understanding of and sentiment towards chain mooring impacts and EFMs.
  • Six events held including: two educational workshops, a field day to the Marine Discovery Centre in Woodbridge, and three on-water trips.