11 February 2025 – Port of Melbourne is proud to announce its partnership with The Nature Conservancy Australia (TNC) to lead the world’s first trial to remediate dredge material grounds by restoring shellfish reefs in Port Phillip Bay. Dredge material grounds are areas of seafloor set aside for placement of sand and mud which have been cleared from navigation channels.

“This is an incredibly exciting initiative,” Andrew Bossie, TNC’s Seascapes Conservation Officer, VIC, said, “We are restoring half a hectare of new shellfish reefs over dredge spoil, something that has never been attempted before.”

The trial commenced on 4 February, using a mix of recycled shell from TNC’s Shuck Don’t Chuck project and local limestone rock to form a new reef base on the seafloor. These reef bases will be seeded with 400,000 Australian Flat Oysters, which will continue to grow and attach to the reef base and each other. Over time, they will create a living reef, filtering water, and attracting a diversity of fish and aquatic life.

Shellfish reefs once dominated up to half of Port Phillip Bay’s seafloor. However, as a consequence of historical overfishing, compounded by catchment-to-coast runoff and other factors, they are now considered an ecologically collapsed ecosystem.

In response, Port of Melbourne has invested $890,000 to support TNC in restoring shellfish reefs in Port Phillip Bay’s diverse ecosystem.

“We are delighted to support the restoration of shellfish reefs in the Bay,” Craig Faulkner, Port of Melbourne Executive General Manager Operations, said.

“We are incredibly excited to continue our shellfish reef restoration work by leading a world first trial. If successful, this project could catalyse the restoration of end-of-life dredge material grounds in other parts of Australia and the world.” Mr Bossie added.

This project is part of TNC’s larger national shellfish restoration program that aims to rebuild shellfish ecosystems at 60 geographic locations across Australia by 2030.

For more information contact:
Nicole Ng
Mobile: 0427 700 844
Email: nicole.ng@portofmelbourne.com