Moorings

If you are interested in installing, owning or using a mooring in a Western Australian marine park or reserve managed by Parks and Wildlife Service, you’ve come to the right place.

Overview

Most marine parks and reserves are a focus for recreational boating and marine nature based tourism.  As boat ownership in Western Australia continues to increase, Parks and Wildlife Service manages an increasing demand for moorings in marine parks and reserves to ensure public safety while minimising impacts on the environment.

Moorings play an important role in protecting areas with high conservation value such as coral reef and seagrass because well-designed moorings minimise the need for anchoring and thereby reduce anchor damage.  Moorings also provide better access to locations of interest such as dive sites and provide an improved level of security and safety for vessels.

Moorings in each marine park or reserve are managed in accordance with the management plan and a mooring plan.  Parks and Wildlife Service also applies its policy on moorings (see Forms & downloads below).

A moorings plans will be prepared for each park and will be released as a draft for public comment.

Types of moorings

Parks and Wildlife Service manages three types of moorings:

• private moorings: which are owned and maintained by individuals, organisations or commercial operators;
• public moorings: which are owned and maintained by Parks and Wildlife and are available for public use free of charge on a first come, first permitted basis in accordance with conditions that are displayed on the mooring; and
• rental moorings: which are owned and maintained by Parks and Wildlife and are available for public use under a rental mooring licence.

Installation, ownership and use of moorings

You need permission from Parks and Wildlife Service to install, own and/or use a mooring in marine parks and reserves (that is, lands and waters to which the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 applies).

Please contact the relevant district office of Parks and Wildlife Service if you wish to apply to install, own and/ or use a mooring in a marine park or reserve. You will also need to fill in an application form (see Forms & downloads below).

If you are a licensed commercial operator, authority to install, own and/or use a mooring would be incorporated into your commercial operations licence.

Contacts for further information

Contact the Tourism and Concessions Branch with queries about moorings authorisations and licences, on 9219 9169.

Contact the relevant Parks and Wildlife Service district office to discuss moorings in a particular marine park or reserve:

• Walpole and Nornalup Inlets Marine Park – Walpole office – 08 9840 0400
• Ngari Capes Marine Park – Busselton office - 08 9752 5555
• Shoalwater Islands and Marmion marine parks – Swan Region office – 08 9206 4795
• Jurien Bay Marine Park – Jurien office – 08 9688 6000
• Shark Bay Marine Park – Denham office – 08 9948 2226
• Ningaloo Marine Park – Exmouth office – 08 9947 8000
• Barrow Island and Montebello Islands marine parks – Karratha office – 08 9182 2000
• Rowley Shoals, Eighty Mile Beach, Lalang-garram / Camden Sound marine parks – Broome office – 08 9195 5500
• North Kimberley Marine Park – Kununurra office – 08 9168 4200