Declared Fish Habitat Area summary - Princess Charlotte Bay
Princess Charlotte Bay
Location
180 km north-west of Cooktown, across Princess Charlotte Bay between Claremont Point and Bathurst Head and tidal parts of adjoining waterways.
Plan number
Size
122,530 ha
Management level
A
Declaration dates
19 November 1983 (original declaration)
1 July 2010 (redeclared to cadastral boundaries and extended seaward)
Local government
Cook Shire Council
Management features
Protection and conservation of barramundi habitat and associated wetlands; Department of Primary Industries survey stations in the Marrett, Normanby, Bizant and Kennedy rivers and at Bathurst Heads supported original declaration; seaward boundary aligned with trawl closure boundary.
Habitat values
Closed mixed mangroves with Ceriops along tidal creeks, open Avicennia and tall closed Rhizophora; extensive salt pans and coastal seagrass beds; tidal sand and mud flats.
Fisheries values
Commercial, recreational and Indigenous fisheries significance; major recreational barramundi fishery in hinterland; barramundi; blue salmon; grey mackerel; queenfish; grunter; mangrove jack; tiger prawns; mud crab.
Unique features
Seagrass beds have amongst greatest species richness and biodiversity between Cairns and Cape York; shoreline of Princess Charlotte Bay is one of largest tidal wetland areas in Australia.
Other values
Rocky headlands at Bathurst Head have fringing reefs; adjoining freshwater lagoons and billabongs in some areas.