Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00324:front:0:p81
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00324
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 230795–233697

to the Marine Park at commencement of this plan.
Social and economic values
Commercial fishing, tourism, and recreation, including fishing, are important activities in the Marine Park. These activities contribute to the wellbeing of regional communities and the prosperity of the nation.

Figure S2.6 Limmen Marine Park
Figure S2.7 Cultural values in Limmen Marine Park
Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park
The Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park (Figure S2.7) is located approximately 90 km north-west of Karumba, Queensland and is adjacent to the Wellesley Islands in the south of the Gulf of Carpentaria basin. The Marine Park covers an area of 23,771 km² and water depths range from less than 15 m to 70 m.
The Marine Park was proclaimed under the EPBC Act on 14 December 2013 and renamed Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park on 9 October 2017. The Marine Park is assigned IUCN category VI and includes two zones assigned under this plan: National Park Zone (II) and Special Purpose Zone (Trawl) (VI).
Coordinates for the Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park and zones are provided in Figure S2.8 and Schedule 4.
Statement of significance
The Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park is significant because it contains habitats, species and ecological communities associated with the Northern Shelf Province.
It includes four key ecological features: the Gulf of Carpentaria basin; Gulf of Carpentaria coastal zone; plateaux and saddle north-west of the Wellesley Islands; and submerged coral reefs of the Gulf of Carpentaria (all valued for high aggregations of marine life, biodiversity and endemism).
Natural values
The Marine Park includes examples of ecosystems representative of the Northern Shelf Province—a dynamic region with gently sloping shelf topped with a number of pinnacles at depths ranging from 5 m to 30 m. Tidal eddies induce localised upwellings and hotspots of productivity that correspond with aggregations of marine life within the Marine Park.
Key ecological features of the Marine Park are:
  * Gulf of Carpentaria basin—characterised by soft sediments that support diverse communities dominated by polychaetes, crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms with pelagic fish species, such as shark, snapper, tuna and mackerel;
  * Gulf of Carpentaria coastal zone—an area where nutrient inflow from rivers generates high productivity supporting diverse and abundant biota. The coastal zone is near pristine and supports many species that move between freshwater and saltwater environments;
  * plateaux and saddle north-west of the Wellesley Islands—an area made up of living patch reefs that support reef fish that are unique within the Gulf of Carpentaria; and
  * submerged coral reefs of the Gulf of Carpentaria—an area that supports large plate corals, abundant hard and soft corals, breeding and aggregation habitats for many fish species, and refuges for sea snakes and apex predators such as sharks.