Australia's marine parks face cuts to protected areas

Big reductions in no-take marine protected areas are being considered, going beyond those recommended by an earlier federal government review

Australia's marine protected areas look set to be slashed by the federal government, with plans announced for cuts that go beyond those recommended by a review commissioned by the previous Abbott government.

Draft management plans released by the Director of National Parks on Friday propose that large areas of Queensland's Coral Sea, as well as off the coast of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales, will lose or have their protection downgraded, to make way for expanded long-line fishing and seafloor trawling - which have been shown to damage the conservation value of the oceans.