Declared Fish Habitat Area summary - Susan River
Kangaroo Island, Susan River declared Fish Habitat Area
Location
Susan River and parts of lower reaches of Mary River, 16 km south-east of Maryborough.
Plan number
FHA-054 (Revision 1)
Size
4,835 ha
4,800 ha management A
35 ha management B
Management level
A and B
Declaration dates
10 May 1986 (original declaration)
22 May 2009 (redeclared to cadastral boundaries, adjoining fish habitats included, mooring area excluded)
29 March 2024 (effective from 21 May 2024) (redeclared - revised to introduce a Management B area over the mooring area west of River Heads and minor amendments to parts of the outer boundary to align with the boundary of the Great Sandy Marine Park.)
Local government
Fraser Coast Regional Council
Management features
Protection of recreational fishing grounds; penaeid prawn and mud crab habitat.
Habitat values
Closed mangrove forests (Rhizophora and Avicennia); low mangroveshrubland (Ceriops); intertidal sand flats and claypan; seagrass meadows.
Fisheries values
Recreational, commercial and Indigenous fishing; bream; estuary cod; flathead; garfish; grunter; luderick; mangrove jack; sea mullet; tailor; whiting; banana prawns; mud crabs.
Unique features
Avicennia mangroves in the Susan River declared FHA provide important habitat for the Illidge’s ant-blue butterfly (Acrodipsas illidgei), which is listed as vulnerable under Queensland legislation and endangered on the IUCN Red List; majority of the FHA lies within the Great Sandy Strait Ramsar wetland.
Other values
Dolphin habitat.