Kinkuna declared Fish Habitat Area

Location and plan number

• Parts of Coonarr, Theodolite and Lagoon creeks (and the foreshore of Hervey Bay between these)
• Plan number: FHA-002 (Revision 2)
• Bundaberg Regional Council

Size and management level

• 1,628 ha Management A

Declaration history

• 23 July 1998:
  • original declaration
• 21 December 2012 redeclaration:
  • improve boundary definition, including the offshore boundary
• 29 March 2024 redeclaration, effective from 21 May 2024 revised to:
  • show the limit of tidal activity in the Lagoon Creek area
  • exclude some areas of non-tidal land

Management features

• Protection of near-pristine estuarine fish habitats
• Areas surrounding the northern and southern extremities of the declared Fish Habitat Area are experiencing increasing urbanisation

Habitat values

• Mangrove forests (dominated by Avicennia and Ceriops)
• Intertidal sand and gravel bars
• Sandy beach habitats

Fisheries values

• Recreational, commercial and Indigenous fisheries fishing grounds
• Species:
  • Barramundi
  • King salmon
  • Flathead
  • Bream
  • Mangrove jack
  • Whiting
  • Mullet
  • Various prawn species

Other values

• A large part of the declared Fish Habitat Area directly adjoins Kinkuna National Park—the declaration of the Fish Habitat Area was strongly promoted by conservation interests in the Wide Bay region to complement national park management

References

• Mackenzie, J, Duke N 2011, State of the Mangroves Report 2008 - Condition assessment of the tidal wetlands of the Burnett Mary Region, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane.