Mussel Habitat Restoration
12 December 2022: A few BPG Members got up early to work with The Nature Conservancy to install mussel matting along a stretch of the river’s intertidal zone in Bassendean. It was a beautiful morning and we helped to prepare, place and secure 50m of coir (coconut fibre) matting at Sandy Beach as habitat for our native black pygmy mussels. The mussels are a crucial part of the estuarine ecology and the main food source for bream, however, their habitat has been decimated by riverside development and bank erosion. After researching a number of sites and methods, The Nature Conservancy determined the coir matting is highly effective at providing habitat for these mussels and they have selected sites throughout the Derbarl Yerrigan. In two to three months the Bassendean matting should be teaming with 1000s of tiny mussel spat.
Installation of artificial (but fully biodegradable) matting is taking place at a number of sites along the Derbarl Yerrigan and you can get in touch with the Nature Conservancy or OzFish to get involved.
You can also read the Nature Conservancy’s ‘Conservation Action Plan for the Swan-Canning Estuary’ - visit their website or read the full report update here.
