As thousands of fishers are heading to WA’s Southern and South-West coasts this Easter to chase massive schools of migrating salmon, Recfishwest is urging fishers to “keep the sand between their toes” by fishing from beaches rather than rocks.
Recfishwest as part of its Fish and Survive Program, funded by the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund, is running a major public awareness campaign to promote safe salmon fishing, including a TV commercial featuring Western Angler Editor and fishing personality Scott Coghlan. Check out this video below!
The Easter holiday period marks a migration of thousands of families to chase WA salmon on their famous spawning run eager to throw in a line at large schools of the iconic sportfish.
Recfishwest and Scott are encouraging people to fish from WA’s spectacular southern beaches for a greater chance of catching salmon, with none of the risks associated with fishing off the rocks.
As Scott says in the commercial, “You’ve actually got more chance of catching a salmon from the beach than the rocks and it’s a whole lot safer.”
The ads are running on regional television and on social media and are part of Recfishwest’s Fish and Survive salmon campaign, which also includes ads on local radio, in regional newspapers and through Recfishwest’s own channels, viewed collectively by hundreds of thousands of fishers.
Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said, “Every year we see a migration of thousands of families and mates to our southern coastline around Easter eager to chase the migration of these iconic sportfish. Often, they are fishing in places they are not wholly familiar with.
“That’s why we’re promoting safe salmon fishing as much as we can through multiple channels and outlets to enable the cast of thousands to make good decisions about where they choose to fish and ensure everyone comes home safe after a day’s fishing.”
Recfishwest is also working with the Bureau of Meteorology to send out rock fishing alerts through our channels when periods of high swell and poor weather conditions are forecast.
We encourage anyone considering fishing off the rocks to look out for these alerts on our Facebook and Instagram platforms and through our weekly fishing reports.
Rock fishing safety precautions
Recfishwest recommends fishers do the following if choosing to fish from the rocks:
• Always wear a lifejacket
• Fish with a friend and look out for each other
• Analyse the conditions on arrival before fishing
• Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
• Avoid fishing on black or wet rocks
• Be familiar with public safety equipment such as angel rings and rock anchor points
• Plan ahead and tell someone your plans
If you can’t swim, we strongly advise you to stay off the rocks because no fish is worth risking your life for.
Recfishwest continues to promote and support free loan lifejackets at 24 locations around Western Australia, while also implementing the deployment of rock anchor points and more than 80 angel floatation rings at popular rock fishing sites, a measure which has been proven to save lives.
To see a map of all the participating loan lifejacket stores, rock anchor points and angel ring locations, visit our 2025 Salmon Fishing webpage.