Academic Tor Hundloe said in a report that the rezoning plan would hit nearby communities hard financially. He estimated the cost to the commercial fishing and prawn farming industries as at least 38 million dollarsmillion US dollars) a year.

"Our estimates are only for the price of seafood landed on the beach, which does not take into consideration impacts on industries supporting the commercial fishery, or the value adding of product as it moves through the supply chain," said Hundloe, director of the University of Queensland's environmental management program.

Under the draft scheme, recreational fishing and shipping would be banned from almost one-third of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to protect the biodiversity of the reef, which runs along the Pacific coast of Queensland state.

Hundloe said the impact on communities in towns nearby should be carefully considered. The reef is the largest living structure on Earth and is visible from space, but there are serious concerns about the impact of tourism and other human activities on it.

TERRA.WIRE