Jurien Bay community writes letters in bid to change marina design to stop seaweed trap and fish kills

A community member passionate about the environment has prepared 250 letters with signatures from Jurien Bay residents, as evidence exposing the need to revamp the town’s “toxic” marina. Penelope Normington is a Jurien Bay local and grandmother who aims to bring attention to the need for replacing the marina that she said currently causes fish kills and damage to vessels due to it being a seaweed trap. “Every year with the northerly winds, weed comes into the marina because of the incorrect design,” she said. “It becomes a trap for the seaweed, the seaweed can’t go out, it sinks down and takes away the oxygen and the fish die.” Ms Normington said the weed build up made residents nauseous, caused issues for marine rescue and damaged vessels docked at the pens. She said while the Government was in talks about reducing demersal fish catches in the deep sea, there was a need to look at how to repair the marina, which was a nursery for baby fish. “We’ve got a nursery housing all the baby fish and they’re not protected. We have this huge fish kill of baby fish, they’ve all died. “It’s quite heart-breaking seeing the destruction to the environment and when we’re supposed to be at the forefront of climate change and yet right here at the grass roots of it no one really cares.”