Snapper muscle in on farmers
Meet the last of the mussel men.
A quarter of a century after mussel farming began in Cockburn Sound, Glenn Dibbin and business partner Geoff Peck are the only survivors.
And the way they see it, Cockburn Sound is not sound. They believe it is way out of balance and that is causing big fluctuations in marine populations.
In the days just before Christmas, a super school of snapper wiped out the entire stock on one of their farms in an area known as the southern flats. The snapper crunched their way through 15 tonnes of mussels a night for 10 nights and moved on only when there was nothing left.
Mr Dibbin suspects the snapper attacked the mussels like never before because there are virtually no crabs in the sound.
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Only two years ago there was an explosion in crab numbers and they wiped out the mussels.
Mr Dibbin, one of the founding members of the Cockburn Sound Management Council, suspects changes at the bottom of the food chain are behind some of the dramatic variations.
"All of a sudden two years ago we had a huge influx of crabs into the sound and when they came in there wasn't a lot for them to eat, so they turned on the mussels," he said.
"They basically ate from top to bottom, which they had never done before. The crab fishermen, both commercial and recreational, were frustrated because there was such a mass of crabs that not a lot of them were getting to size. There just wasn't enough food for them in the sound.
"The following year the numbers collapsed and two years later there are no crabs in the sound. It is the worst I have seen it.
"Then came the snapper in the biggest numbers we have seen. They are normally feeding on the crabs. This year they turned on the only food source left - our mussels."
Fisheries Minister Ken Baston met Mr Dibbin and Mr Peck this week to discuss conditions in the sound and has agreed to call a meeting to co-ordinate efforts to tackle the problems.
Mr Dibbin said production was down to about 200 tonnes a year from a peak of about 500 tonnes.
Blue Lagoon Mussels, the company he runs with Mr Peck, is the only supplier of WA mussels apart from a few small farms around Albany.
The pre-Christmas snapper feast came at the worst time for the business, which has leases covering 100ha in Cockburn Sound, including an area near the CBH grain terminal.
The only saving grace was that the snapper steered clear of the farm near the grain terminal.
Mr Dibbin believes changes in nutrient levels and warmer water have had a big impact on marine life in the sound.
"The Cockburn Sound catchment goes all the way to the foothills and the water table seeps out under the sea bed," he said.
"We are not scientists, but we know local industries have cleaned up their act, all the market gardens that poured on fertiliser have moved out and rainfall is not as strong as it used to be.
"So there are not as many nutrients being discharged into the sound for the micro algae. On top of that, we have warm water coming further south."
Mr Dibbin said he supported moves by the Department of Fisheries to protect snapper and crab by imposing various fishing bans, but feared the measures had contributed to a boom and bust cycle.
Mr Baston said the mussel business was one of the "hidden gems" in the WA fishing industry.
"Our aquaculture industry has struggled for years to get off the ground," he said. "Blue Lagoon Mussels is the sole surviving farm from the original 10 leases in Cockburn Sound. Hopefully they will survive and continue to grow and supply WA tables."
