Declared Fish Habitat Area summary - Cleveland Bay
Crocodile Creek
Location
Adjacent to Townsville, stretches from south-east of Ross River to Cape Cleveland including Sandfly, Alligator, Crocodile and Cocoa creeks and the Blacksoil and Salmon Creek coastal wetland systems adjacent to Bowling Green Bay.
Plan number
Size
21,810 ha
Management level
A
Declaration dates
28 March 2008 (original declaration)
Local government
Townsville City Council
Management features
Protection of valuable commercial, recreational and Indigenous fisheries resources; wetlands buffer zone from industrial and residential development; protection of remaining undisturbed habitat.
Habitat values
Extensive seagrass beds dominated by Halodule and Halophila; mangrove-lined estuaries, 21 mangrove species dominated by Rhizophora stylosa, Ceriops australis and Avicennia marina; intertidal mud and sand flats; intertidal marshes and saltpan; nursery habitats for highly productive and valuable commercial fisheries.
Fisheries values
Commercial, recreational and Indigenous fisheries resources; banana and tiger prawns, mud crabs, barramundi, mullet, shark and threadfin salmon.
Other values
Surrounded by National Parks, RAMSAR wetlands and World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park; important area for fisheries and fish habitat research.
Further references
Baker, R & Sheppard, R 2005, Fisheries resources of Cleveland Bay (Townsville), Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.