Life jacket or $100 fine on NSW coast
Rock fishers could be slapped with a $100 on-the-spot fine if caught not wearing a life jacket under a new opt-in law being offered to councils along the NSW coast.
Around 800 rock fishers were caught without life jackets during the 12-month trial at Sydney's Randwick City Council beaches, which ended in November lasy year.
More than 150 people died while rock fishing in Australia in the 13 years to 2017 with slippery surfaces and waves being a major contributing factor, according to data from Surf Life Saving Australia.
The NSW government wants more councils to take up the law from June 1 to improve rock fishing safety.
Coastal councils that adopt the opt-in law will also get up to $30,000 to spend on educating the public about the dangers of rock fishing with training, workshops and signage at local beaches.
NSW Surf Life Saving CEO Steven Pearce welcomed the move as an important step in changing behaviour towards wearing life jackets and making rock fishing safer.
"In so many of these incidents, a tragedy could well have been averted if the rock fisher had been wearing a simple flotation device," Mr Pearce said in a statement on Friday.
Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said while many rock fishers do wear life-saving jackets, they do not meet Australian standards and were more suitable for boating.
"Rock fishers say they need to be agile when they're on the rocks for casting and agility," Mr Blair told reporters on Friday.
The Roads and Maritime Services will be looking at how to improve lifejackets for rock fishers.
In the meantime, rock fishers will need to wear an Australian Standard 4758 life jacket with a buoyancy of at least 50S for adults and a level 100 for children under 12 years at those beaches that have taken up the Rock Fishing Safety Act (2016).
