Susan River declared Fish Habitat Area

Location and plan number

  • Susan River and parts of the lower reaches of Mary River, 16km south-east of Maryborough
  • Plan number: FHA-054 (Revision 1)
  • Fraser Coast Regional Council

Size and management level

Total size: 4,835 ha:

  • 4,800 ha – Management A
  • 35 ha – Management B.

Declaration history

  • 10 May 1986: Original declaration.
  • 22 May 2009: Redeclaration:
    • to cadastral boundaries
    • to include adjoining fish habitats
    • to exclude mooring area.
  • 29 March 2024: Redeclaration, effective from 21 May 2024:
    • introduce a Management B area over the mooring area west of River Heads
    • make minor amendments to parts of the outer boundary to align with the boundary of the Great Sandy Marine Park.

Management features

  • Protection of recreational fishing grounds.
  • Penaeid prawn and mud crab habitat.

Habitat values

  • Closed mangrove forests (Rhizophora and Avicennia)
  • Low mangrove shrubland (Ceriops)
  • Intertidal sand flats and claypan
  • Seagrass meadows.

Fisheries values

  • Recreational, commercial and Indigenous fishing.
  • Species:
    • Bream
    • Estuary cod
    • Flathead
    • Garfish
    • Grunter
    • Luderick
    • Mangrove jack
    • Sea mullet
    • Tailor
    • Whiting
    • Banana prawns
    • Mud crabs.

Unique features

  • Avicennia mangroves provide important habitat for the Illidge’s ant-blue butterfly (Acrodipsas illidgei), which is listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
  • The majority of the Fish Habitat Area lies within the Great Sandy Strait Ramsar Wetland.

Other values

  • Dolphin habitat.

References