About

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW and Australian Marine Conservation Society are calling for greater protection of the unique marine life of Sydney's harbour and oceans through the creation of a Sydney Marine Park.

The Sydney Marine Park would provide improved conservation for marine life, while still allowing Sydneysiders to continue enjoying their internationally renowned beaches and harbours.

International recording artist Jack Johnson has swung his support behind our calls for stronger protection for Sydney Harbour and the marine life that call it home. He will also match dollar for dollar all donations received by 31 December 2010 to help support marine parks.

A recent survey of Sydney residents found that 89 per cent of Sydneysiders support the protection of the marine environment, even if it meant some fishing closures. It's clear the people of Sydney recognise that better management means healthier oceans for the future.

The myth of the 'lock out'

Anyone can enter marine parks. Sanctuaries are natural places where people can swim, boat, snorkel and dive, but where fishing and other extractive uses are not permitted. Far from being places that are 'locked up', marine sanctuaries are essentially places where ocean life (and people) can swim wild and free.

Marine parks and fisheries

Marine parks can play an important role in sustaining our fisheries. They can help rebuild fish populations through increasing the size, biomass and diversity of fish species and can help repopulate surrounding areas through a 'spillover' effect into fished areas.

For example, just two years after the marine national park zones were expanded on the Great Barrier Reef in 2004, scientists found numbers of Coral Trout had increased by 60% in the protected areas.

Marine parks around Australia

Australia is responsible for an area of ocean bigger than our entire land mass, but we currently protect less than 5% of our seas in marine parks. In NSW, 6.7% of our waters are fully protected.

The Australian government is currently working to establish a national, representative network of marine parks to protect marine life and habitats in our offshore waters.  

Environment groups from across the nation, including the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Nature Conservation Council of NSW, believe a network of large marine sanctuaries is backed by science and established through full consultation with all stakeholders as being the best way to protect our unique marine life, allow fish stocks to recover and provide safeguards against the impacts of threats such as overfishing and climate change.