Declared Fish Habitat Area summary - Noosa River
Noosa River
Location
Parts of Noosa River, Weyba Creek and associated lake systems, adjacent to Tewantin and Noosa.
Plan number
FHA-051 (revision 2)
Size
6,074 ha
5,974 ha management A
100 ha management B
Management level
A and B
Declaration dates
16 March 1974 (original declarations of Noosa and Weyba reserves)
19 November 1983 (original declaration Lake Doonella Reserve)
21 September 2001 (redeclared to combine Noosa, Weyba and Lake Doonella FHAs)
19 December 2003 (redeclared to address management issues)
28 March 2008 (redeclared to address management issues addressed in the Noosa River Plan)
Local government
Noosa Shire Council
Management features
Fish and crustacean nursery; limited habitat modification (runnels) for mosquito control; intensive urban development of adjacent land.
Habitat values
Mangrove communities dominated by Avicennia and Rhizophora with Bruguiera also present along estuarine waterways; scattered saltmarshes; occasional claypans; extensive Zostera and Halophila beds; significant freshwater section; river system connecting wide shallow sandy lakes subject to limited tidal exchange.
Fisheries values
Protection and habitat management for estuarine commercial, recreational and Indigenous fisheries including important prawn fishery; Australian bass; bream; blue salmon; estuary cod; flathead; garfish; jewfish; luderick; mangrove jack; sea mullet; tailor; whiting; mud and sand crabs; school, greasyback, bay and eastern king prawns.
Unique features
Unique among Queensland estuaries with a transition from freshwater to hypersaline waters in the lakes; largest riverine seagrass beds in south-east Queensland; coastal lowlands of the Cooloola region provide habitat for endangered honey blue eye Pseudomugil mellis and oxleyan pygmy perch Nannoperca oxleyana; southern limit of club mangrove Aegialitis annulata.
Other values
Habitats support tourism, e.g. kayaking, canoeing and boat cruises.