The Karajarri people are the Traditional Owners of a 30,000 km2 area of the southwest Kimberley that encompasses Bidyadanga, Western Australia’s largest remote Aboriginal community, and a 170 km section of coastline. The Karajarri Rangers have been successfully managing their Indigenous Protected Area for the past 15 years using cultural knowledge to guide contemporary land management practices. Here we report on progress toward targets 6 and 7 of the Karajarri Healthy Country Plan relating to Kari (Saltwater) Habitats and Saltwater resources. In 2019, Karajarri elders asked the rangers to investigate the status of Panganu (Eleutheronema tetradactylum), a culturally significant resource that is important for food security. Panganu have a dreaming story in a creek called Panganunganjal which tells people how to sustainably fish from that place. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development were engaged to help build capacity using western science methods and established the ‘Protecting Panganunganjal’ project. In 2022, a further partnership with Murdoch University was initiated and included the installation of an acoustic receiver array for animal tracking and environmental monitoring of Lagrange Bay. We discuss successful elements of this approach, including the role of government and academic partnerships in supporting Karajarri’s Healthy Country Plan.