Tasmanian artist helps save a species: spotted handfish

Found only in a small home range in Tasmania, spotted handfish have suffered dramatic losses of their habitat which has severely impacted their ability to reproduce. Thanks to a numb impacts including the introduced North Pacific seastar. These seastars not only prey on the fish’s eggs, but also the sea squirts that form the substrate on which the fish spawn. In an unlikely collaboration, ceramic artist Jane Bamford was commissioned from CSIRO to produce create ceramic artificial spawning habitats (ASH) to specifically support the critically endangered spotted handfish. In our latest video, Tim Lynch from CSIRO and Jane Bamford reflect on the inspiring project, which has seen 5000 ceramic artificial spawning habitats deployed and the population of spotted handfish has been reported to stabilise.