Corio Bay declared Fish Habitat Area

Location and plan number

  • Corio Bay, 20km north of Yeppoon
  • Plan number: FHA-067
  • Livingstone Shire Council

Size and management level

  • 4,652 ha – Management A.

Declaration history

  • 16 March 1974: Original declaration.
  • 22 May 2009: Redeclaration:
    • redeclared to cadastral boundaries
    • include adjoining fish habitats.

Management features

  • Protection of habitats that support local recreational fisheries and banana prawns.

Habitat values

  • Extensive sandy shallows with areas of mangrove shrubland (dominated by Rhizophora and Ceriops)
  • Rocky outcrops
  • Seagrass beds on intertidal flats
  • Extensive salt marshes around Fishing Creek.

Fisheries values

  • Locally important recreational fishery.
  • Indigenous and commercial fishing.
  • Species:
    • Barramundi
    • Blue salmon
    • Bream
    • Estuary cod
    • Flathead
    • Grunter
    • Grey mackerel
    • Jewfish
    • Mangrove jack
    • Queenfish
    • Sea mullet
    • School mackerel
    • Whiting
    • Banana prawns
    • Freshwater eels.

Unique features

  • Lies within the Shoalwater and Corio Bay Area Ramsar Wetland.
  • Surrounded by national parks, is adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and the Shoalwater Bay Dugong Protection Area.

Other values

  • None presently identified.

References

  • Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation 2011, Inventory of instream structures impacting on Ramsar Wetlands, pp. 66, Queensland Wetlands Program, Brisbane Queensland.