Wilson Inlet - Fauna

Fauna

The inlet is home to a mussel and oyster farm that as established in 2002. The farm operates on a 12 hectares (30 acres) lease on the South side of the inlet and completed their first harvest in 2005/2006. Blue mussels are produced using the longline cultivation technique and Belon Oysters are also cultivated using a similar technique.

An earlier operation had attempted to commercially produce blue mussels in he 1970s, but the small scale raft culture was destroyed by Cyclone Alby just prior to harvest.

Wilson Inlet is a key nursery for many juvenile fish species especially Pink Snapper which migrate from the Inlet to mature in the greater oceanic breeding stock. As a result of this the size of Pink Snapper that could be removed from the inlet was raised from 28 centimetres (11 in) to 41 centimetres (16 in) in July 2007.

Recreational fishing is popular within the inlet, that many species of fish inhabit including Cobbler, King George Whiting, Tailor, Mullet, Salmon Trout and Flathead. Other fish found in the estuary include Sandy Sprat, Yellow Eye Mullet, Sea Mullet and Blue Mackerel.

Many waterbird species inhabit the inlet and its surrounds including the Silver Gull, Australian Pelican, Black Swan, Little Black Cormorant, Grey Teal, Blue-billed Duck, Red-necked Avocet and the Australasian Shoveler.

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