The Federal Environment Minister, Senator Ian Campbell, has defended increasing fishing closures on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef but says the matter was poorly handled.
The comments follow the release of a review into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA).
Commercial and recreational fisherman were incensed when the GBRMPA locked them out of a third of the reef in 2004.
A review has found GBRMPA consulted widely, but the social and economic impacts were not taken into account.