The federal government is planning on downgrading the level of protection given to our marine national parks. Meaning protected marine parks will now be open to fishing, and even oil and gas exploration.

O’Connor MP Rick Wilson will request the removal of a zone permitting scallop trawling in a proposed marine reserve area at Bremer Bay. It comes after environmental concern over how scallop trawling could damage the area, which is a hotspot for marine life including orcas. Mr Wilson previously agreed with the Bioregional Advisory Panel and […]

Growing global momentum to protect the world’s oceans from overfishing could be undermined by Australia, warns renowned conservationist David Suzuki and more than 1,461 other scientists. Australia is currently considering the world’s biggest downgrading of a protected area with a reduction in the size of its network of marine reserves. “If Australia does something progressive in […]

Many environmental and industrial groups have made submissions on the Federal Government’s draft marine parks management plans. A group of nearly 1,300 scientists — both from Australia and overseas — say they are deeply concerned about the draft plans and they have signed a joint submission. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/scientists-concerned-about-plan-for-marine-parks/8969430

A submission on the Government’s proposed changes to marine parks raises doubts about the economic benefit for the fishing industry. The Australia Institute has prepared a paper critical to opening up some marine parks to fishing. It suggests the changes would see a boost of just $4 million in the value of fish taken in […]

The following is a statement from the Ocean Science Council of Australia, an internationally recognised independent group of university-based Australian marine researchers, and signed by 1,286 researchers from 45 countries and jurisdictions, in response to the federal government’s draft marine parks plans. We, the undersigned scientists, are deeply concerned about the future of the Australian Marine Parks Network and […]

The campaign against proposed changes to Australia’s marine park network is gathering weight, with marine science heavyweights from around the world backing a statement of concern about draft management plans. The Government is not planning to shrink park boundaries from those outlined in 2012, but it is planning zoning changes within the boundaries, claiming the […]

Conservationists are outraged over the Federal Government’s draft plans for 44 Australian marine parks, saying it almost halves the protections set five years ago. Under the new proposal, mid-water trawling will be allowed and more areas will be opened to commercial and recreational fishing. Green zones, which offer the highest protection, will be reduced but […]

The number of protected turtles hooked by commercial fishers along Australia’s east coast has jumped tenfold over the past five years, sparking fears for the fate of vulnerable ocean life as the Turnbull government moves to tear up marine sanctuary protections. An analysis of government data has also revealed an increase in the number of […]

He’s already thrown hundreds of millions of dollars towards improvin­g the lives of Aboriginal people, ending the scourge of ­global slavery and finding a cure for cancer. Now billionaire miner and philanthropist Andrew Forrest has a new cause: saving the world’s oceans. Mr Forrest is undertaking a PhD in marine science at the Universit­y of […]