South East Local Land Services is encouraging Eurobodalla fishers, and members of the wider community, to attend an information session on ‘improving fish habitat’ at Corrigan’s Cove Resort Batehaven at 6pm on Friday 15 November.
“Estuaries are a mosaic of different habitats including seagrass, mangroves, saltmarsh, sand, mud and oyster and rocky reefs” said South East Local Land Services’ Sonia Bazzacco.
“Each of these habitats plays an important role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem that can support the needs of the environment, of recreational users and of local industries like fishing and tourism.
“We’re particularly keen to get local fishers involved in this project as they have a wealth of knowledge about the water ways, existing and historical fish habitat and species”.
Dr Troy Gaston, a senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle’s School of Environmental and Life Sciences, will talk about how our understanding of what is required for productive estuaries has greatly improved over the last decade, and where we can focus on-ground rehabilitation efforts to improve habitat.
"We already know the importance of this vegetation type (coastal saltmarsh) as habitat and food source for prawns and numerous commercial and recreational fish.” Troy said.
“Our appreciation of the importance of saltmash and the potential outcomes from habitat repair will be further improved by examining these relationships for other species".
The night will also feature talks from Jillian Keating from NSW DPI’s Threatened Species and Coastal Systems unit, Sherrie Nye from Mogo Local Aboriginal Land Council and Chris Weire from NSW DPI’s Recreational and Aboriginal Fisheries Unit.
“It is a great opportunity to get everyone in the room, here from a range of voices and perspectives, united by the desire to make sure that these habitats are healthy and sustainable for future generations to enjoy” said Sonia.
To find out more about the project of the upcoming community information session please contact Sonia Bazzacco, Land Services Officer, South East Local Land Services,
on 0429 998 585.
The Climate Proofing Coastal Saltmarsh project is supported by South East Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
