The biggest humpback whale calving area in the southern hemisphere will be protected within a new marine park to be created on the Kimberley coast by the West Australian government.
The creation of Camden Sound Marine Park, about 300km northeast of Broome, was announced by Premier Colin Barnett and Environment Minister Bill Marmion on Thursday.
"Creating this marine park reaffirms our election commitment to protect this significant and biologically important region," the premier said.The park will cover nearly 7000 sq km and will be created by mid-2012.
Camden Sound is internationally recognised as the biggest calving area for humpback whales in the southern hemisphere with more than 1000 humpbacks found there during the calving season.
Mr Marmion said a special purpose zone would be created covering about 1670 sq km to protect the calving grounds, with vessels required to remain at least 500m from humpback mothers and calves.
There will also be two sanctuary zones comprising about 20 per cent of the marine park area around the Champagny Islands and Montgomery Reef.
Mr Marmion said the marine park's zoning scheme would help protect a unique marine environment, while allowing recreational and commercial fishing as well as aquaculture and pearling.
He said for the first time in WA there would be a zone providing for a 'wilderness' fishing experience where recreational fishers must either catch and release or eat their catch before leaving the zone.
Pearling operations will be recognised in a designated zone, and some commercial fishing operations will be phased out, with 48 per cent of the marine park closed to commercial trawl fishing and 23 per cent closed to all forms of commercial fishing.
Mr Marmion said compensation would be paid to affected fishing operations if appropriate.
The new park will contain coral reefs and seagrass areas, mangrove forests, tidal flats, and habitats for dugong, sawfish, dolphins and crocodiles.
It will be jointly managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation and traditional owners, including the Dambimangari and Uunguu peoples.
The government has committed $10 million over four years to protecting and managing the park, with ongoing funding of $2.3 million a year from 2015-16.
The Pew Environment Group, which advised on the park's boundaries, said it took the region a step closer to becoming an international tourism and conservation attraction alongside the Great Barrier Reef.
Spokesman John Carey said an estimated 22,000 mothers and baby whales would have a safe and secure home during WA's winter months.
"The reefs and marine life of the Kimberley are as significant as what's found on the Great Barrier Reef. However, to date less than one per cent of the region has had any protection," he said.
Conservation groups welcomed the release of the final boundaries for the park.
WWF WA Director Paul Gamblin said the park was an important and historic step forward for the Kimberley.
"This represents government getting it right for the Kimberley, this is what the future of the Kimberley should be," he said.
Mr Gamblin said oil and gas developers would now be expected to show no interest in the Camden Sound area.
Wilderness Society marine campaigner Jenita Enevoldsen said the region was one of Australia's last remaining large and healthy refuges for many threatened species, including humpback whales, snubfin dolphins, dugongs, saw sharks, and six turtle species.
She said the creation of the park was recognition that the region's future lay in protecting its unique natural and cultural values through a conservation economy, not in pursuing destructive industrial projects such as Woodside Petroleum's proposed gas precinct 60km north of Broome.
Conservation Council of WA marine coordinator Tim Nicol said the park showed leadership and vision from the premier at a time when the future of the Kimberley was at a crossroads.
