Cottesloe Reef Fish Habitat Protection Area (Western Australia)

The 800 m-wide reef strip off Cottesloe and North Fremantle, one of the most-used snorkelling and shore-diving areas in the Perth metropolitan area, set aside as a fish habitat protection area by the Cottesloe Reef Fish Habitat Protection Area Order 2001 (s.115 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994). The prohibition itself is in regulation 113A of the Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995: recreational fishing in the Cottesloe Reef waters is prohibited except for abalone, rock lobster, and finfish taken “using a single rod and line”. Spearfishing is not within any exception, so it is prohibited, with a penalty of $2,000 plus the section 222 penalty. Commercial fishing, depositing blood or offal, jet skis and anchoring are also banned.