The council at a Western Australian tourist hotspot known for its iconic beaches has supported a community push to ban spearfishing at popular swimming spots.

Shire of Augusta Margaret River councillors voted in favour of the chief executive writing to state Fisheries Minister Don Punch to request that the practice be banned at Gnarabup beach, Flinders Bay and Gracetown.

Shire President Paula Cristoffanini said locals had been raising the issue for some time.

"Essentially [there's] two concerns — one is about environmental integrity of the areas, and the other one is about the safety of all the people that are using the beaches," she said.

"I've also heard from people concerned about spearfishing in Flinders Bay, which is a very popular beach area in Augusta, and I've also heard a manta ray has been speared at Hamelin Bay.

Ms Cristoffanini admitted that the shire did not have the power to ban the activity and hoped Mr Punch would listen to the concerns of her community.

"What we're calling for is to undertake public consultation on the introduction of a ban," she said.

A spokesperson for Recfishwest said the organisation was keen to find an appropriate solution.

"Recfishwest is aware of this issue and we will happily discuss a potential solution with the local shire council if and when approached," they said.

"We do feel it's important to recognise the vast majority of spearfishers fish responsibly, within the rules and with strong consideration for the safety of swimmers and other marine users."

Swimming group 'alarmed'

Gracetown resident Laurie Keane is part of the Red Rockers swimming group, which has about 40 members who meet at 8am each day for a casual ocean swim.

He said the group had grown quite attached to a friendly blue groper that frequented Cowaramup Bay.

"We've been observing it for probably nearly a year and watching it get slightly bigger and certainly tamer," Mr Keane said.

Mr Keane said his group made a grim discovery earlier this year.

"It was after one of our swims in January, and this blue groper that we had become quite attached to had washed up on the beach and had … a spear-hole in its head," he said.

"That really alarmed our group, and it was then that we decided we need to take some action."

He said the group's main concern was environmental protection and agreed that most spearfishers conducted the activity in a safe manner.

"We want to preserve all fish life within the bay from spearfishing and we think it's just a really cruel sort of way to get hold of a feed and it's just not a good look," he said.

Most other states in the country have banned the practice of spearfishing blue gropers due to their inquisitive nature.

Spearfishers are not 'villains'

Shane Robertson from the WA Undersea Club, the oldest spearfishing club in WA, said spearfishers were unfairly targeted.

"We often get viewed as these villains, but realistically we're the most critical of each other to stay sustainable and selective," he said.

"One thing that we love about spearfishing is the fact that we can go out and catch ourself a feed and if we're good at it we can end the suffering of this single fish we select at the pull of a trigger.

Mr Robertson said any proposed ban could push spearfishers into more dangerous waters.

"If you start talking about closing off areas that people swim, you're gonna end up closing off a lot of ground, which as spearfishers really concerns us as we're limited to where we can actually dive because of depth," he said.

"People start pushing out wider, it becomes more dangerous, and we would likely see more cases of shallow water blackout and death in the community."

Mr Punch has been contacted for comment.