Two new recreational fishing parks are being slammed as pointless.

Environment Minister Nick Smith this morning proposed the creation of the two parks in the Marlborough Sounds and Hauraki Gulf, which only recreational fishers could use.

Labour's fisheries spokesperson Rino Tirikatene says commercial fishers are supposed to be banned, but there are too many exemptions.

"Key commercial species such as paua, lobster and scallops will be exempt, so it really just defeats the purpose of a recreational park."

"There's more holes in these fishing parks than in a fishing net," he said. "What was promised was recreational parks, but it seems to be full of exceptions and allowances."

The World Wildlife Fund says the Government's announcement today is "hugely disappointing" and doesn't make any sense.

Head of campaigns Peter Hardstaff said it will only cover the Territorial Sea and not the Exclusive Economic Zone which only makes up for just four percent of the country's marine environment.

"We need a science based process to identify the most important areas of adequate protection, that will give everyone certainty in terms of economic activity, and will also be ecologically robust."

However, the Environment Minister is playing down the negative aspects of a new proposal.

When asked what impact that would have on jobs for locals, he told Newstalk ZB it wouldn't be significant.

"The loss of jobs or other opportunities for that commercial industry will be small, and will be outweighed by the advantages for the broader Kiwi lifestyle."

The commercial sector currently takes 139 tonnes of fish a year from the Sounds and 870 tonnes from the Hauraki Gulf.

Nick Smith said removing commercial competition will greatly enhance the recreation fishing experience.

"These two parks involve 1000 tonnes of commercial take, that in future will be compensated for and available for recreationals."

Smith said that's only a small percentage of the overall take for the entire sector, and won't have any major negative impact.

Public submissions on the proposal close on the 11th of March.