Conservation groups have welcomed the creation of the nearly 7000 sq km Camden Sound Marine Park, about 300km northeast of Broome, to be co-managed by traditional owners.

The Pew Environment Group said the announcement had moved the region a step closer to becoming an international tourism and conservation icon alongside the Great Barrier Reef.

Announcing the park would be created by mid-2012, Premier Colin Barnett told reporters on Thursday that his Liberal Party agreed that protecting the Kimberley was "perhaps the most important environmental issue that this generation faces".

Zones
A "special purpose zone" will require vessels to stay at least 500 meters (1,640 feet) from humpback mothers and calves. An estimated 22,000 whales inhabit the region surrounding the marine park during calving season in Western Australia's winter months.

Another zone will provide for a "wilderness" fishing experience where recreational fishers must either catch and release or eat their catch before leaving the zone. Forty-eight percent of the marine park will be closed to commercial trawl fishing and 23 percent will be closed to all forms of commercial fishing.

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