When FAME first invested in the recovery of the critically endangered Red Handfish, the goal was clear: prevent one of Australia's rarest fish from disappearing forever.
Today, that vision is growing into something even bigger.
News
Last week, FAME CEO Tracy McNamara joined researchers, project partners and supporters in Hobart to celebrate the launch of Tasmania's first seagrass restoration nursery. While the nursery itself has not been funded by FAME, it is a significant milestone made possible by the long-term collaboration and momentum generated through the Red Handfish recovery program. It signals the next chapter in the Red Handfish story.
For years, our partnership with the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) and, in more recent times, Seahorse World, has focused on giving the Red Handfish a future. Together, we've supported captive breeding, habitat restoration, scientific research and, in a world first, the successful release of captive-bred Red Handfish back into the wild.
That work continues to deliver encouraging results.
The captive population now stands at more than 300 Red Handfish, with another successful breeding season producing 89 juveniles in late 2025. Field monitoring continues across release sites, while habitat restoration has reduced sea urchin numbers below the threshold needed for giant kelp to naturally recover. Researchers are also progressing work to identify future translocation sites, helping secure additional habitat for the species into the future.
Now, the project is taking another important step forward.
Seagrass meadows are among the world's most valuable ecosystems, providing shelter, food and nursery habitat for an extraordinary diversity of marine life. They improve water quality, capture carbon and help stabilise our coastlines. For the Red Handfish, healthy seagrass creates the complex underwater environment it needs to survive.
The new nursery will help restore these vital habitats, creating benefits that extend far beyond a single species.
It perfectly captures a philosophy that sits at the heart of FAME's conservation work: save one species, help many.
By restoring habitat for the Red Handfish, we're also supporting countless fish, seahorses, crustaceans and other marine species that depend on healthy seagrass ecosystems. Conservation is no longer only about preventing extinction. Increasingly, it's about rebuilding the natural systems that allow wildlife to thrive.
It's an exciting shift, and one we're beginning to see across a number of FAME projects. As threatened species begin to recover, we're creating opportunities to restore entire ecosystems and strengthen nature's resilience for generations to come.
For more on the project and the seagrass nursery launch, visit the project page
Photos above (top to bottom):
Seagrass nursery (Liz Andrews)
Seagrass nursery facility (Jemina Stuart-Smith).
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