NSW Marine Park app

More than 1400 copies of electronic maps have been downloaded since the NSW Marine Park Zoning Maps were made available for smart phones and tablets via the Avenza PDF Maps app.

The maps allow people to identify where they are in a marine park and what types of activities are permitted in that zone. However, not everyone has a smartphone or device and it's still incumbent upon all skippers to know the boundaries of marine parks using apps or paper charts.

Department of Primary Industries (DPI) District Fisheries Officer, Brett Vercoe, said those who had downloaded the maps had valuable information at their fingertips.

"The app uses the GPS in your mobile device to show you exactly where you are in a marine park and what types of activities you can do," Mr Vercoe said.

"With more than 1400 maps downloaded, members of the community have the ability to access important information on the water, without the need for expensive chart plotting systems.

"They can now easily ensure they only fish in zones where fishing is permitted, and don't accidentally creep into sanctuary zones."

The 'Avenza PDF Maps' app and the Marine Park Zoning Maps are free for download from the iTunes Store or Google Play.

Once the 'Avenza PDF Maps' app is installed, you can go to the map store to search for and download the desired marine park map.

You can search for maps by marine park name, for example 'Jervis Bay Marine Park' or 'NSW DPI Fisheries' for all available maps, but must ensure you enable location services for the App.

The maps available fro NSW Marine Parks are: Cape Byron, Solitary Islands, Port Stephens, Jervis Bay and Bateman's Bay.

The maps are stored locally on your device and phone reception isn't required to use them, making them ideal for offshore use. Security issues via mobile tracking will be something left up to users.

Paper zoning maps and user guides are still available from Marine Park offices, bait and tackle stores, service stations and tourism information centres.