A trial of mandatory life jackets for rock fishermen will not be expanded despite more drowning deaths off the NSW coast.
A 23-year-old man drowned at Manly on Sunday when he was swept off rocks while fishing at Bluefish Point.
On Monday, a 27-year-old man who went swimming while fishing at Gymea Bay was pulled from the water before 5am by his 28-year-old friend.
Local residents and emergency services failed to resuscitate him.
Sunday's death reignited debate over whether life jackets should be made mandatory for rock fishermen as a one-year trial continues in the Randwick local council region.
The area was chosen after it recorded 17 fatalities over a decade.
Emergency Services Minister Troy Grant says the trial will continue as it is until November, with the government to then consider whether to declare other high-risk areas.
"Individuals need to be responsible for their own actions," he said on Monday pointing to an $11 million investment in water safety initiatives.
Fishermen often overestimated their abilities and underestimated the conditions, Mr Grant added.
"The NSW government is taking deliberate steps to raise awareness that where there's water, there's danger."
NSW Fishing Clubs Association president Robert Smith agrees education is the key.
"Anybody who wants to go fishing should understand what sort of circumstances they can get into," he told AAP.
"The one fear that I have of making life jackets mandatory is some people will think they are invincible because they've got a life jacket on.
Mr Smith believed helmets provided better protection because a major risk to anyone swept into the water was a head injury - and subsequent loss of consciousness - from being slammed into rocks.
"If you've got a life jacket on, you're bobbing in the water like a cork," he said.
Mr Smith said in some conditions the only safe solution was for people to stay at home.
"How you drum that into people, I wish I knew."
After 19 patrols across the Randwick council region since December, warnings were issued to 39 people not wearing life jackets, while 31 were observed to be using the safety devices.
A 2015 coronial inquiry into nine fishing-related deaths concluded the disadvantages of life jackets - including the loss of autonomy for wearers - were far outweighed by the potential to save lives.
The recommendations included the 12-month trial and the continuation and further development of education and safety device programs.
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