Glass-bottomed boats will be Government-regulated under a proposal to minimise their impact on marine life.

Acting Deputy Director of Environmental Protection Eric Chan today told legislators there is a need to regulate the activity as more people are taking such boat trips.

Mr Chan said new provisions are proposed for the Marine Parks & Marine Reserves Regulation to empower the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department to regulate the trips through a permit system.

Operating conditions, such as routing, speed and manoeuvring of the vessels, will be stipulated in each permit, which will be revoked if conditions are violated. The department will consult the trade on implementation details before finalising the proposal.

Mr Chan said amendments to the regulation are also proposed to streamline the application procedure for collecting scientific research specimens in marine parks and reserves to shorten the application period to one or two weeks.