Significant penalties apply for breaching the closure, which is in place to protect spawning aggregations of pink snapper.
Two men were recently issued heavy fines for taking pink snapper from Warnbro Sound in October last year, during the 2024/25 closure.
A 29-year-old Waikiki man and a 32-year-old man from Armadale were found guilty of jointly taking eight large pink snapper, found in the rear of a vehicle searched at the Bent Street Boat Ramp in Safety Bay.
The man from Waikiki was penalised $2,984 in early September and the Armadale man was this week (21/10) ordered to pay $2,734 for his involvement in the illegal fishing activity.
The fish were caught on 18 October last year, with the men observed on a vessel headed to the Saxon Ranger Dive Wreck site within Warnbro Sound. It is an offence to fish at the wreck site.
DPIRD Director Regional Compliance Metro Todd A’Vard said with increased fishing and environmental pressures it was vital to manage Western Australia’s highly valued aquatic resources sustainably to ensure there were fish for the future.
“Fisheries officers make regular patrols of metropolitan fishing locations and closed waters to guard against illegal fishing,” Mr A’Vard said.
“In addition to the pink snapper spawning closure in Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds, all demersal scalefish species are also subject to a closure period in the West Coast Bioregion from 5 October to 15 December.”
Recreational fishers can check the rules in the recreational_fishing_guide.pdf or online at Western Australian recreational fishing rules, where you can search by fish species and fishing location.
Anyone who witnesses any suspicious freshwater or marine fishing activity, is urged to call FishWatch on 1800 815 507 or report the matter via the online form on Crimestoppers.
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