More ways to step up and support algal bloom recovery

A host of community-led initiatives are being rolled out to support environmental resilience and restoration, providing more ways for South Australians to get involved and give back to our marine environment during the recovery from the algal bloom.

Backed by the Government’s $102.5 million summer plan, new measures that the public can get behind include:

• More support for seagrass restoration, expanding on the volunteer-led program run by fish habitat charity OzFish.
• Establishing a public drop-off point, now in place, for recycled shellfish shells to help restore native reefs.
• Dedicated volunteer portal launched today to highlight opportunities available.

Seagrass restoration helps filter excess nutrients from the water, supports bacteria that inhibit algal growth, improves water quality and provides a nursery habitat for juvenile fish and other marine species.

Through OzFish’s Seeds for Snapper Adelaide program, launched today at North Haven, volunteers rescue seagrass seeds found washed ashore – which are then processed in tanks, sewn into biodegradable sandbags and placed in the ocean to help restore seagrass meadows.

The Government will deliver additional support to the metropolitan program over summer, building on the program’s success which has seen 50,000 seedlings replanted across the Gulf St Vincent in the past five years.

South Australians can also play a key role in creating additional community shellfish reefs, as part of the summer plan efforts.

The first public shellfish collection bin has been set up at Tennyson Dunes carpark, allowing people to drop off shells of seafood they consume at home. Additional drop-off locations will be determined in partnership with OzFish and local councils.

Effective shells for establishing new reefs include SA oysters, scallops and mussels, with donated shells taken to Garden Island for processing.

To support projects underway, a new volunteer portal – listing programs and events the community can contribute to – has been created on the Government’s dedicated algal bloom site: algalbloom.sa.gov.au/get-involved.

Registrations are now open to get involved in key initiatives, including seagrass restoration and community reefs along with becoming a beach clean-up volunteer.

A ‘Shells for Reefs’ community day – recognising our incredible volunteers and encouraging South Australians to recycle oysters and other shells – will be held at Henley Square, on Sunday 7 December.

Quotes

Attributable to Lucy Hood

South Australians are passionate about their marine environment and have made clear they want to step up and give back to coastal communities.

We’ve heard this at our community forums and responded through our summer plan to help the public contribute to projects making a difference across the state.

Volunteers are already driving local initiatives, citizen science projects and on-ground observations, and expanding on these efforts to get more people involved will strengthen our recovery from this unprecedented event.

Attributable to Member for Boothby Louise Miller-Frost

It is great to see federal funding supporting the new measures in the Algal Bloom Summer Plan. Our community has been calling for practical action and this is a really positive step.

After hearing from so many locals and spending time with OzFish volunteers, it is clear that people care deeply about our marine environment. They want to get involved, they want to help, and they want to feel part of the solution.

The algal bloom has been difficult for our coastline and for the people who love it. Practical opportunities like seagrass restoration, native reef rebuilding and the volunteer portal give our community real ways to contribute to a healthier coast.

Attributable to OzFish SA Project Manager Brad Martin

As well as providing an important habitat for fish, seagrasses help to stabilise soil and sediment on the ocean floor, helping to protect our shorelines from erosion and storms.

Seagrasses store carbon and nutrients, which can help to improve water quality – a hectare of seagrass can store 35 times more carbon than a hectare of rainforest.

OzFish’s shell recycling project is a sustainable solution that reduces waste and conserves our ocean. We are pleased to continue to work with the community to recycle as many shells as possible to build and restore South Australia's shellfish reefs.