Hays Inlet declared Fish Habitat Area

Location and plan number

  • Parts of Pine River and Hays Inlet, upstream from Hornibrook Highway between Redcliffe and Brisbane
  • Plan number: FHA-012
  • City of Moreton Bay

Size and management level

  • 1,205 ha – Management A.

Declaration history

  • 23 January 1969: Original declaration.
  • 4 November 1989. Redeclaration:
    • include upstream adjoining fish habitats.
  • 23 July 1998. Redeclaration:
    • redeclared to cadastral boundaries.

Management features

  • Protection of shoal estuarine flats and intertidal fish habitats.
  • Stands of mangroves (Excoecaria) in estuary—this species is uncommon elsewhere in Moreton Bay.
  • Limited habitat modification runnels for mosquito control.

Habitat values

  • Dominated by open mangrove forests (Avicennia) with other fringing mangrove communities along deeper muddy-sand substrates
  • Small over-wash mangrove islands
  • Saltmarsh flats dominated by samphire associated with Pine River and Hays Inlet
  • Seagrass beds at estuary mouth.

Fisheries values

  • Major recreational fishing ground.
  • Species:
    • Australian bass
    • Bream
    • Blue salmon
    • Estuary cod
    • Flathead
    • Garfish
    • Jewfish
    • Luderick
    • Mangrove jack
    • Sea mullet
    • Tailor
    • Whiting
    • Mud crabs
    • Sand crabs
    • Banana prawns
    • Eastern king prawns.

Unique features

  • Lies within the Moreton Bay Ramsar Wetland.

Other values

  • Recreational area education opportunities at Osprey House Environmental Centre.