A NEW reef restoration project off Mornington that is creating vital habitat for fish and marine life in Port Phillip Bay has received a $98,000 grant.
Fish habitat charity OzFish Unlimited was announced as a recipient of the funding last week as part of the latest round of the state government’s Fish Habitat Improvement Fund, which has delivered $670,000 across four projects statewide.
“These grants will deliver more fish habitat, which means more shelter and food for iconic recreational species like Murray cod and snapper,” Victorian Fisheries Authority CEO Travis Dowling said.
The Mornington project, located about 300 metres into Port Phillip Bay, aims to enhance fish habitat, improve water quality, and support biodiversity while giving recreational fishers more opportunities to reel in popular species like snapper, calamari, and King George whiting.
OzFish is repurposing shells that would have otherwise gone to landfill, to help baby oysters and other shellfish settle and grow into reefs.
Installed by the VFA between 2009 and 2012 to help support fish numbers, reef balls are concrete structures that mimic the function of a natural reef.
The reefs support shellfish to grow, in turn providing places for recreationally popular species such as snapper, King George whiting and calamari to hide, feed and breed.
As reported by The News in May, OzFish Unlimited manager Andy Foudoulis said the reef balls provide structure for fish, which were often far apart but this was being changed by forming connecting shellfish reef.
Once a week, OzFishers drive around to Mornington Peninsula restaurants and seafood wholesalers, collecting discarded oyster, mussel and scallop shells. The shell is processed and cleaned at OzFish’s shell recycling centre in Flinders, and then six months later is ready to return to the ocean.
The group has teamed up with Mornington Peninsula Shire and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing, with funding from Sustainability Victoria to make the project a success.
First published in the Mornington News – 18 November 2025
