What fishing is banned in WA right now?

It depends on the date and where you fish. The standing closures Perth anglers run into most are the West Coast demersal scalefish closure (boat-based fishing for dhufish, pink snapper, baldchin groper and the rest of the reef suite is closed until spring 2027) and the Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds pink snapper spawning closure each spring and summer. Marron and abalone are closed except for short open windows. Always confirm the current rules on the DPIRD site before you go.

When is the snapper closure in Cockburn Sound?

Fishing for pink snapper in Cockburn Sound and Warnbro Sound is closed each year from 1 August to 31 January inclusive. During the closure you cannot fish for or possess pink snapper from boat or land in those waters. Check the DPIRD page for the exact closed-water boundaries before fishing the area.

Can I still fish for dhufish from the shore during the demersal closure?

Yes. The West Coast demersal boat-based closure does not apply to land-based line fishers, who can keep targeting demersal species year-round outside of any spawning closures. Shore-based spearfishers, however, are not permitted to take WA dhufish. Confirm current rules with DPIRD.

When is marron season in WA?

The recreational marron season runs from 12 noon on 8 January to 12 noon on 5 February, so the 2027 season opens on 8 January 2027. You need a separate Recreational Marron Licence, and bag and size limits differ between general and trophy waters. DPIRD can adjust the window between seasons, so confirm the dates before setting a pot.

Is western rock lobster open all year?

Yes. Recreational western rock lobster can be taken year-round, but only with a Recreational Rock Lobster Licence and within strict bag, size and gear rules — pot or free-dive only, no scuba. Daily bag and minimum carapace sizes apply. Check DPIRD before each trip.

Where do I find the official WA fishing closure dates?

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is the only source worth trusting. The recreational fishing rules pages and the annual Recreational Fishing Guide list current closures, boundaries, bag and size limits. Dates and zones change, so check before every trip rather than relying on memory or social media.

WA Fishing Closures & Ban Dates: The Calendar That Matters

Most WA anglers can recite their favourite bag limit but go blank the moment someone asks what’s actually closed. That’s the gap Fisheries officers live in. This is a reference round-up of the recreational fishing closures and seasons that genuinely affect Perth and the south-west — what each one covers, roughly when it runs, and where to get the exact dates. We’re deliberately light on hard dates here, because they shift season to season and you’re the one legally on the hook for knowing what applies on the day. For every closure below, the DPIRD recreational fishing rules pages are the version of record.

West Coast Demersal Closure — The Big One

If you run a boat out of Perth, this is the closure that reshapes your year. The West Coast demersal scalefish suite — WA dhufish, pink snapper, baldchin groper, breaksea cod and the rest of the reef species — is under a recovery package that has boat-based recreational fishing for those species closed until spring 2027. Catch one from a boat in the West Coast Bioregion during the closure and you have to return it to the water as soon as possible.

That rules out the core of a standard offshore trip out of Ocean Reef Marina, Hillarys Boat Harbour or Mindarie Marina. Land-based line fishers are exempt — you can still chase demersals from the rocks and long jetties year-round, outside of any spawning closures — though shore-based spearos aren’t allowed to take dhufish. The full list of species caught by the closure is on the DPIRD demersal closure species page, and the broader arrangements sit on the recreational fishers information page. The rules are being reviewed ahead of the reopening, so check before assuming last year’s version still holds.

Pink Snapper — Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds Spawning Closure

Separate to the demersal closure, and one a lot of people get wrong. Fishing for pink snapper in Cockburn Sound and Warnbro Sound is closed every year from 1 August to 31 January inclusive. During that window you can’t fish for or possess pink snapper — from boat or land — inside the closed waters. It exists because the sound holds the largest known snapper spawning aggregation in the West Coast Bioregion, and that stock has already collapsed once.

This catches anglers fishing around Mangles Bay and the Safety Bay and Warnbro side. Every spring someone at the ramp will start a sentence with “I reckon you can still…” — reckon is not a legal defence. The exact closed-water boundaries matter, so read them on the DPIRD pink snapper closure page before you drop a line anywhere near the sounds.

Abalone — A Handful of Saturday Mornings

Roe’s abalone in the West Coast Zone isn’t a season so much as a small set of supervised one-hour windows — typically a few Saturday mornings across summer, 7am to 8am, announced by DPIRD before each session and cancelled outright when the surf’s unsafe. You need a separate Recreational Abalone Licence to take them, and the dates are locked to those individual mornings, not a continuous open period. Miss the hour and you’ve missed the session. Check the current dates and any weather cancellations on the DPIRD rules pages before you drive to the reef.

Western Rock Lobster — Open All Year, Tightly Managed

Good news for summer: recreational western rock lobster can be taken year-round. The catch is everything around it. You need a separate Recreational Rock Lobster Licence, it’s pot or free-dive only — no scuba, no hookah, no spears — and there’s a daily bag limit, a minimum carapace size, and a tagging requirement before lobsters leave the water. Berried females and tar-spot lobsters go straight back. The first weekend of the licence year still empties every western-suburbs ramp, even without a hard season opening. Current bag, size and gear rules are on the West Coast bioregion page.

Blue Swimmer Crab — The Spring Closure Down South

Easy to forget because it lands in the off-season, but the metro and south-west blue swimmer crab fishery shuts for spring. Crabbing is closed from roughly 1 September to 30 November inclusive across the Swan and Canning rivers, Cockburn Sound, and all waters south to Minninup Beach — about 15km south of Bunbury. Through that window you can’t take or possess blue swimmer crabs from any of those waters, drop-net, scoop or by hand. It’s there to protect the breeding stock after the summer-autumn run, and it catches a lot of people who assume crabbing is a year-round thing. The exact dates and the closed-water boundaries are set by DPIRD, so confirm them on the recreational fishing rules pages before you set a net in spring.

Marron — Blink and You’ll Miss It

The shortest season on the calendar. Marron, WA’s endemic freshwater crayfish, open for under a month in mid-summer — the current DPIRD guide sets the season from 12 noon on 8 January to 12 noon on 5 February, which puts the next opening at 8 January 2027. You need a separate Recreational Marron Licence on top of the freshwater angling licence, it’s drop nets, scoop nets and snares only, and bag and size limits differ between general waters and the tighter trophy impoundments at Harvey, Waroona and Drakesbrook. Berried females are released. Buy a marron gauge before the season — eyeballing the carapace is how people end up with fines.

Freshwater, Trout and Spatial Closures

Beyond the headline marine closures, the south-west rivers carry their own seasonal and spatial closures, the hills trout fisheries run to set seasons, and marine parks and sanctuary zones impose no-take or no-fishing areas that don’t show up on a standard bag-limit chart. If you fish outside the metro boat-and-beach run, assume something applies and check the relevant rules page.

Why DPIRD Is the Only Source Worth Trusting

The reason this article doesn’t hard-assert most dates is simple: they move. Closures get reviewed, tightened, occasionally loosened, and the boundaries get redrawn. A Facebook screenshot from two seasons ago, the bloke at the tackle shop who “reckons it opens next weekend”, and a chatbot confidently inventing plausible-but-wrong dates will all cost you the same fine. The annual Recreational Fishing Guide and the DPIRD rules pages are updated each year and are the only version that holds up at the ramp.

Build the check into your trip plan: work out what you’ll realistically target, confirm the current closures and limits on DPIRD, make sure your rig matches what you’re actually allowed to chase that day, then sort wind, swell, tide and solunar on BiteCompass. Two tabs, five minutes, no fines — and a fishery still worth chasing in twenty years.

Before your next trip, confirm the current closures and bag limits on the DPIRD recreational fishing rules site, then check conditions for your spot on BiteCompass.