In Dale Bay, Pembrokeshire, a collaboration between local fishers and marine conservation charity Project Seagrass is showing positive results for both sustainable fishing and seagrass restoration.

Dale Bay is the location of an ongoing seagrass restoration project, delivered by South Wales based charity Project Seagrass and overseen by the Dale Seagrass Stakeholder group (a group made up of local individuals across different sectors).

The project began as a way to boost the natural seagrass meadow in the bay, trialling new techniques and raising awareness of the importance of seagrass for local biodiversity, water quality, and fish populations.

Mark from Lilly May Fishing has worked with Project Seagrass from the start of the project to assist in site selection and deploying monitoring equipment.

As the project has progressed, Mark noticed he was sometimes tearing up seagrass as he lifted his pots up to retrieve crab and lobster.

In response to this, Mark designed a raised shellfish pot with short mesh legs to lift the gear just off the seabed.

Made by local boat builders Robust Boats, the pots were deployed over the last two seasons with catch monitored over that time.

Early results are positive showing that the new pot design is effective for storing crab catch, with some tweaks required for lobsters, whilst also reducing mud build-up and reducing the impact on the seagrass.

Mark reported: “Overall, [it has] worked very well in seagrass -I would recommend using them as storage pots in shallow water where seagrass is as it’s very low impact on the grass with the mesh legs compared to steel bar bottoms.”

Project Seagrass is continuing to plant seagrass in Dale Bay alongside carrying out regular monitoring to determine seagrass recovery and resilience.

It will be interesting to see how the natural meadow responds to the reduced impact from shellfish pots over time.

Across South & West Wales, fishers, anglers, spearfishers, aquaculture workers, and seafood gatherers have been taking part in a survey to share their local knowledge about seagrass and fishing areas.

This information is helping identify the best sites forfuture seagrass restoration work. Full results will be released in the New Year, but early insights already show just how valuable local experience is in guiding conservation.

If you’d like to take part, the survey is open until, January 31, link here: https://t.ly/gxUSx

Project Seagrass will also be hosting a series of events in the new year to celebrate sustainable local seafood and the amazing role seagrass plays in healthy seas.

This work is made possible thanks to funding from the Nature Networks Programme which is being delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fundon behalf of Welsh Government, and Rebel Restoration.

Established in 2013 by a group of seagrass scientists, Project Seagrass is a global facing marine conservation organisation securing a future for seagrass.

They do this by creating, empowering, and collaborating with communities; by leading, championing and communicating scientific research; and taking direct action to map, conserve, and restore seagrass meadows globally.