Silver Plains declared Fish Habitat Area

Location and plan number

• 250 km north-west of Cooktown between Cape Sidmouth and Claremont Point
• Plan number: FHA-057
• Cook Shire Council

Size and management level

• 52,125 ha Management A

Declaration history

• 19 November 1983:
  • original declaration
• 1 July 2010 redeclaration:
  • to cadastral boundaries and extended seaward

Management features

• Protection and conservation of Barramundi habitat, particularly wetland nursery habitats
• Protects important juvenile tiger prawn and mud crab habitat
• Department of Primary Industries survey stations at Cape Sidmouth, Nesbit River, Massy Creek and Claremont Point supported the original declaration
• Seaward boundary aligned with trawl closure boundary in 2010

Habitat values

• Closed mangrove forests (Rhizophora) and open mangroves (Avicennia) along the seaward edge
• Extensive seagrass beds
• Sandy foreshores

Fisheries values

• Commercial, recreational and Indigenous fisheries significance
• Species:
  • Barramundi
  • Blue salmon
  • Grey mackerel
  • Queenfish
  • Grunter
  • Mangrove jack
  • Tiger prawns
  • Mud crabs

Other values

• Important hawksbill turtle habitat
• Large area of inshore reef associated with Massy Creek
• Adjoins a brackish water swamp system behind the beaches