To help keep our fish resources sustainable, we have developed a comprehensive set of rules for recreational fishers.
By following the rules you will help maintain the fantastic fishing opportunities here in WA, ensuring there are fish for the future for you and the generations to come.
Most of the key Statewide fishing rules can be found online and in our 
Recreational fishing guide, which includes bag and size limits tables for the main species you are likely to catch throughout WA.
A number of rules also apply to licensed fisheries and some rules apply to specific biological regions, known as 'bioregions' – click on the relevant section in the map below for more details.
You should also be aware of rules for individual species.
The rules form part of our management strategies, which are based on ongoing research monitoring of our fish and aquatic resources.
Main changes to the rules in 2016
Helping rock lobster fishers
There is no longer a maximum legal size limit for taking female western rock lobsters.
Two licensed fishers may now share a lobster pot.
The daily bag limit for tropical rock lobster has been reduced to 4 as part of the overall bag limit of 8 to share the available catch among more fishers.
Simpler rules for pink snapper in Shark Bay
In Shark Bay's inner gulfs, the 700 mm maximum size limit for pink snapper has been removed. There is also no longer a requirement to land pink snapper in whole form, but Statewide filleting rules apply.
In the Freycinet Estuary, the pink snapper tag lottery has been removed and replaced with a new possession limit of 5 kg of filleted fish or one day's bag limit of whole fish or fish trunks. This applies to all finfish, not just pink snapper.