North-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018 (Cth)

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

APPROVAL OF THE NORTH-WEST MARINE PARKS NETWORK MANAGEMENT PLAN 2018 I, JOSH FRYDENBERG, Minister for the Environment and Energy, acting pursuant to section 370 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, hereby approve the North-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018. Dated this ……......25............. day of ……………January…………., 2018 Josh Frydenberg Minister for the Environment and Energy © Director of National Parks 2018 This document may be cited as: Director of National Parks 2018, North-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018, Director of National Parks, Canberra. ISBN: This management plan is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Director of National Parks. Requests and enquires concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the: Manager North-west Marine Parks Network 203 Channel Highway Hobart TAS 7050 Photography credits Front cover Coral at Rowley Shoals (Michelle Glover) Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 5 Part 1. Managing Australian Marine Parks 6 1.1 Introductory provisions 7 1.2 Australian Marine Parks 7 1.3 Australian Marine Parks vision and objectives 8 1.4 Management plan overview 8 1.5 Legislation and policy supporting marine park management 9 1.6 Approach to managing Australian Marine Parks 11 1.7 Ways of working 11 1.8 Partnerships 12 1.9 Management programs and actions 14 1.10 Zones 14 1.11 Implementation plans 15 1.12 Adaptive management 15 Part 2. The North-west Marine Parks Network 17 2.1 The North-west Marine Region 18 2.2 The North-west Marine Parks Network 20 2.3 Values of the North-west Network 22 2.4 Pressures in the North-west Network 27 2.5 Management programs and actions in the North-West Network 30 Chapter 2 Management and prescriptions 37 Part 3. Zoning 38 3.1 Zone categories, names and objectives 39 Part 4. Managing activities 42 4.1 Outline of Part 4 43 4.2 Rules for activities 43 4.2.1 General use, access, and waste management 45 4.2.2 Commercial shipping (other than commercial fishing, pearling and aquaculture vessels) 47 4.2.3 Commercial fishing 48 4.2.4 Commercial pearling 51 4.2.5 Commercial aquaculture 53 4.2.6 Commercial media 54 4.2.7 Commercial tourism (includes charter fishing tours, scuba diving, nature watching tours) 55 4.2.8 Recreational fishing 57 4.2.9 Mining operations (includes exploration) 58 4.2.10 Structures and works 61 4.2.11 Research and monitoring 63 4.2.12 National security and emergency response 65 4.2.13 New activities and authorisations 66 4.3 Making decisions about activities 66 4.3.1 Decision-making 66 4.3.2 Assessments under other processes 67 4.3.3 Review of decisions 67 4.4 Authorisation of allowable activities 68 4.4.1 Permits 68 4.4.2 Class approvals 69 4.4.3 Activity licences and leases 71 4.4.4 Publication of authorisations 71 Glossary 72 Schedule 1. Summary of legislative and policy contexts 78 S1.1 The EPBC Act and EPBC Regulations 78 S1.2 Other relevant legislation 85 S1.3 International agreements 86 Schedule 2. North-west Network overview and values 90 S2.1 North-west Network overview 91 S2.2 North-west Network values 92 Shark Bay Marine Park 93 Carnarvon Canyon Marine Park 95 Ningaloo Marine Park 97 Gascoyne Marine Park 100 Montebello Marine Park 103 Dampier Marine Park 105 Eighty Mile Beach Marine Park 107 Roebuck Marine Park 110 Mermaid Reef Marine Park 112 Argo–Rowley Terrace Marine Park 115 Kimberley Marine Park 118 Ashmore Reef Marine Park 121 Cartier Island Marine Park 124 Schedule 3. Environmental features used in the design of the North-west Network 127 Schedule 4. North-west Network marine parks and zone boundary descriptions 132 Part 1 — Shark Bay Marine Park 132 Part 2 — Carnarvon Canyon Marine Park 132 Part 3 — Ningaloo Marine Park 133 Part 4 — Gascoyne Marine Park 135 Part 5 — Montebello Marine Park 139 Part 6 — Dampier Marine Park 140 Part 7 — Eighty Mile Beach Marine Park 141 Part 8 — Roebuck Marine Park 142 Part 9 — Mermaid Reef Marine Park 143 Part 10 — Argo‑Rowley Terrace Marine Park 143 Part 11 — Kimberley Marine Park 148 Part 12 — Ashmore Reef Marine Park 152 Part 13 — Cartier Island Marine Park 156 Schedule 5. Supporting information 157 Map data sources 158 Chapter 1 Introduction Whale shark (Tony Howard)