Victoria's fishing regulator will trial mandatory life jacket wearing for 10 of Victoria's most dangerous rock fishing destinations in a bid to curb drownings.
A man and his nine-year-old son drowned while fishing after being swept off the rocks into Sydney's Little Bay at the weekend.
From March this year fisheries officers will be able to enforce the mandate with fines.
The two-year trial will be used to inform the possible decision to make life jackets mandatory at all rock fishing spots across the state.
A Victorian Fisheries Authority spokesperson said the 21 deaths recorded over the past two years could have been avoided.
Cautious approach welcomed
Loch Sport Fishing Club secretary Craig Holland welcomed the trial.
"Lack of awareness or experience leads to avoidable tragedies," he said.
"The authorities have a duty of care to educate us all about the potential risk and, where necessary, to impose commonsense rules," he said.
Mr Holland said inexperience paired with volatile conditions could easily lead to tragedies.
"For rock fishermen, it's often a so-called 'rogue wave', which is only 20 or 30 centimetres generally, and that's enough to knock people off their feet into the water," he said.
