Sydney Harbour’s natural benthic habitats, such as rocky reefs, have been reduced and degraded as the harbour has become increasingly urbanised, with over 60% of the foreshore now lined with seawalls and docks. This urbanisation has diminished habitat complexity for fish and reduced opportunities for them to breed and grow. Project Restore aims to enhance these habitats by introducing innovative eco-engineered Reef Pod modules to degraded sites across Sydney Harbour.
Project Restore is a seascape restoration initiative based at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. The project focuses on restoring, enhancing, and regenerating degraded habitats throughout Sydney Harbour to support thriving marine ecosystems and healthy communities. Generously funded by the NSW Environmental Trust, and delivered in partnership with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as part of the Seabirds to Seascapes Program, Project Restore works to recover lost seagrass meadows, enhance kelp forests, install living seawall panels, and deploy artificial fish habitats at key sites within the harbour.
A key component of the project is fish habitat enhancement through Reef Pods. This initiative explores innovative approaches to increasing marine biodiversity and supporting native species in Sydney Harbour.
Giglia Beretta, Project Restore Research Assistant,
“We are thrilled to see this final phase of restoration for subtidal habitats at these iconic Sydney Harbour sites. We are excited to continue our collaboration with Reef Design Labs (RDL) and Alex Goad following on from Reef structures we installed adjacent to the Sydney Opera House in 2019. Given the amazing biodiversity of Sydney Harbour at less built sites, we expect that these new structures will provide habitat for exciting invertebrate and fish species.”
Project Restore will deploy Reef Pods in arrays across several nearshore sites in outer Sydney Harbour. The units will be installed in pairs, spaced 10 metres apart, to enhance and increase complex hard-substrate habitats in areas where rocky reefs have been degraded.
The new habitat modules are expected to promote benthic growth and increase fish biodiversity. Regular monitoring, including underwater transect surveys and stationary GoPro footage, will assess fish communities at these sites and compare them with nearby control locations. Developed by RDL in 2018, the units are designed to mimic natural reef environments and encourage invertebrate recruitment (such as oysters) and algal growth. Their swim-through spaces and intricate structural details are carefully engineered to create refuge and habitat complexity for marine species to utilise.
Alex Goad, Reef Design Lab,
“When designing these modules we focus on replicating the key habitat features of natural temperate rocky reefs, while minimising material use, maintaining stability on the sea floor and maximising ecological value. We eco engineer the geometry to include overhangs, swim throughs, caves and rough surfaces, and when the units are placed in clusters they form connected passageways that allow fish to move through the reef and evade predators.”
If you’re snorkelling around these locations and see the Reef Pods please send us photos!
