Lake Illawarra's yellowfin bream and sand whiting will be enjoying more of their favourite food thanks to the Illawarra chapter of OzFish, which has planted more than 1800 saltmarsh species in Karoo Bay at Oak Flats.
OzFish Senior Project Officer Lucas Kas said the project came about after a conversation with Shellharbour Council about the erosion at Karoo Bay.
Saltmarsh is an endangered ecological community in NSW and the area where it once thrived in Karoo Bay had been eroded and taken over by exotic grasses from nearby parklands.
To restore the bay's aquatic environment, OzFish used from saltmarsh cuttings harvested at the Shellharbour City Council nursery. In an ingenious move, the nursery placed the cuttings in hessian bags filled with seagrass wrap and potting mix, which broke down once planted, while the bag provided protection for the newly planted saltmarsh.
The OzFish-led restoration started with a huge cleanup of the area that involved volunteers from Tullimbah Landcare, recreational fishers and other local conservation enthusiasts.
Lucas said saltmarsh is important as it contributes to the health of aquatic food webs, provides essential habitats and helps sustain fish populations.
Recreational fishing is popular in Karoo Bay, with yellowfin bream and sand whiting, in particular, known to live in that area. Saltmarsh is an important source of nutrition for these species.
Saltmarsh was also found to be the most important food source for marine life such as the Greasyback Prawn in a 2019 study by the University of Newcastle titled ‘Quantifying habitat-fishery linkages in Lake Illawarra NSW’. The study concluded that, “Given the importance of saltmarsh and seagrass habitats to key species, priority should be given to the conservation and possible rehabilitation of areas to support healthy saltmarsh and seagrass habitats.”
OzFish is a conservation charity that works to restore and protect fishing habitats. It has chapters all over Australia helping to improve our waterways. Current projects include ‘The Shellfish Revolution’ – the largest community-driven shellfish reef restoration project in the country. The aim is to restore oyster reefs, with fishers and volunteers helping to recreate lost structures by dropping bagged shells over concrete reef balls.
The Karoo Bay project was in partnership with Shellharbour City Council and Tullimbah Landcare and supported by a grant from Endeavour Energy.
For further information on OzFish and its projects head to www.ozfish.org.au