Seagrass study sounds alarm bell

COCKBURN Sound, from Rockingham in the south to Owen Anchorage in the north, is one of the worst examples of seagrass destruction in the world.

This is one of the findings in a major international study published in the US this week. Co-author Professor Gary Kendrick of the UWA School of Plant Biology said seagrass destruction contributed to global warming, coastal erosion and the extinction of fish and other aquatic species.

Prof Kendrick said seagrass destruction in Cockburn Sound from 1968 to 1980 had been 80 per cent. “It has improved since then but still ranks with Chesapeake Bay in the US as one of the worst,” he said.

(Chesapeake Bay is one of the most historical coastal features in the US and was the landing place for the Pilgrim Fathers when they founded the First Settlement.)

Prof Kendrick said seagrass destruction or depletion in Cockburn Sound was constantly monitored and the subject of major annual reports.

“There has been a switch in the causes in recent history from primary production to industries. More recently it has ranged from 10 to 15 per cent. In the global picture there are concerns about reductions of even 1 per cent,” he said.

Seagrass loss rates around the world were comparable to those reported for coral reefs, tropical rainforests and mangroves with potential negative impacts for the more than one billion people who live within 50km of them.

This was one of the conclusions in this study (one of 200) which the prestigious journal Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences published this week.

What everyone else is thinking

Anne

07/07/2009

Jim you're correct on every point, the buck is more important than our environment or the Sound in general. What ever is cheapest for industry goes, too bad about the loss of marine life or seagrasses then government have the cheek to blame the locals for over fishing. Now they have made it so expensive, it would be cheaper to go and buy fish. CSBP where given consent to dump 60 ton of gypsum a day into the Sound some years ago, how many others have licenses to dump into the Sound? The government should be held liable for the destruction they have allowed, just pure greed.

research diver

actually, seagrasses continue to grow around the CC washplant at Woodies point despite the turbidity plume. And the sea cucumbers absolutely love the turbidity, with tens upon tens in one square metre. and blue ringed octopuses love the place.

Bignanna

03/07/2009

Yes Jim 13/07/09 .. have to agree my hubbie as a teenager some 45yrs ago (he is now 61yrs of age) used to swim for crabs, fish. Since CC has started working their the disastrous effects on the sea grass and you also have noticed has deteriorated to the point of a absolute disgrace, he even used to catch crayfish by hand in Owen Anchorage. Its amazing to see the sediment trail when you look at satellite photos and you can clearly see where it drifted too. If we the public denigrated our properties the same way CC has destroyed the sea grass in the sound we would all be in jail by now. I have said it before the might $ is the only thing that matters and the environment comes last. Wait till we see the results of the Coogee Waters massive reclaimed land from the ocean, wait and see in a couple of years what is going to happen to the surround beaches. $ money is the only thing that is of the utmost importance.

Jim

I have fished and snorkelled around Woodman Point for the last 15 years and the seagrass particularly nearer the Cockburn Cement shellgrit processing jetty has been completely obliterated. Once there were heaps of crabs and sea mullet there, now there are none. The sediment produced as the shell grit is de-watered drifts over the whole area asphyxiating all marine grasses. It is an absolute disgrace. When you add to that the dredging of shell grit further out to sea by Cockburn Cement it is an environmental disaster - both Labor and Liberal governments and the hopelessly ineffective EPA have allowed it to happen. All because shellgrit is marginally cheaper to source than the alternative Limestone which there are plentiful local supplies of. Cockburn Cement is not even Australian owned, and it is particularly un-Australian in the way it has behaved.