ANGLERS would be banned from huge stretches of the coast under a proposal by the Victorian National Parks Association.

The parks group, seeking to deliver on international promises to protect more of the coastal environment, wants extra marine parks to be created, the Herald Sun reports.

Beaches around the Otways, Phillip Island, Point Nepean and Gippsland have been earmarked.

Peak fishing body VRFish said an Ernst & Young report showed that in 2008-09, 721,000 Victorians went fishing, pumping $2.3 billion into the economy.

VRFish chairman Geoff Cramer said oil exploration would still be allowed under the plan, and that activity was a far bigger threat.

"The locking out of recreational fishers to satisfy an obviously anti-fishing agenda does nothing to protect our precious marine resources and habitat," he said.

Gippsland East independent MP Craig Ingram said towns that relied on tourism tied to fishing and other coastal recreation would be destroyed if the plan went ahead.