Silver Plains declared Fish Habitat Area

Location and plan number

  • 250km 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.