An attempt to restore seagrass in Whangarei harbour is beginning to pay off

Radio New Zealand 3 Jul 09;

Northland Regional Council has been experimenting with transplanting clumps of seagrass from One Tree Point to Takahiwai - where it had been wiped out.

The council says the grass has a host of environmental benefits, and is crucial in providing a nursery for young fish.

Seagrass covered 14 square km of the harbour 60 years ago, but the council says only small pockets remained by the 1970s, because of dredging and increased sedimentation.

The council says plots of transplanted seagrass have taken well. In nine months, the seagrass has recolonised the areas it was taken from.

The $50,000 trial is funded by Northport and carried out by tangata whenua and NIWA.

NIWA scientists recently discovered that almost all snapper found off the west coast of the North Island came from the Kaipara harbour: the only one where seagrass is still plentiful.

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