CANBERRA, April 21 AAP - Australia has the two largest marine parks in the world following the proclamation of the 1.7 million hectare Great Australian Bight Marine Park.
Environment Minister Robert Hill today announced the Governor-General had approved proclamation of the park, the second largest following the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The marine reserve includes a 20 nautical mile band from the boundary of the South Australian state reserve - proclaimed in September 1996 - to the edge of the exclusive economic zone.
About 382,500 ha along the coastline is reserved for mammal protection while a 1.3 million ha benthic protection area will protect sea floor wildlife including sponges, algae and sea fans.
"This is the first major marine park in any part of the southern ocean that seeks to protect such a large area of the ocean's floor," Senator Hill said in a statement.
"It will provide protection for an area that will be of enormous importance to the nation's scientific efforts to understand our marine environment."
Declaration of the park followed consultation in South Australia with the government, fishing and petroleum industries and conservation groups.
A detailed management plan for the area is still to be drawn up.
But Senator Hill said it would ensure protection of the endangered Southern Right Whale and the Australian Sea Lion while also allowing continuing commercial use of the area, including by the South Australian tuna industry.
"For example, the mammal protection zone of the park will generally be closed to boats during the whaling season," Senator Hill said.
"As the whale season falls outside the tuna fishing season I am confident that existing tuna operators will not be affected."
The lobster industry is not expected to be affected, but trawling which affects the sea floor will not be permitted in the benthic protection area.
Mining and petroleum extraction will be banned during the first management plan in the mammal protection area.
Minerals exploration will be banned in the whale season and only allowed at other times on a case-by-case basis under strict environmental review.
Exploration activities which do not disturb the sea floor's plants and animals will be allowed while exploration activities which would disturb the sea floor and extraction activities would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Senator Hill later told ABC radio the fishing industry was generally happy with management proposals and he believed the industry would continue work within the limits set.
"The only fishing industry that might be affected to a small extent is the shark industry and we are going to have further discussions with them," he said.
Discussions with the mining industry and government geologists suggested prospects for mining in the area were very slight, he said.
But the management plan would allow selective exploration for five years while information was gained on the best way to protect the area.
"The future would depend on the basis of our scientific knowledge and technical ability at the time," he said.