Fishing bag limits are being introduced for more species found in South Australian waters and bag limits are being reduced for some others.

Key points: Some SA waters will have a spawning season closure to boost King George whiting numbers

Some SA waters will have a spawning season closure to boost King George whiting numbers Bag and boat limits will change for 26 fish species

Bag and boat limits will change for 26 fish species Recreational anglers say commercial fishing will not have the same cuts imposed

King George whiting is among the fish involved, and a spawning closure of waters will be introduced each May to help improve its stocks.

The South Australian Government said the annual closure affecting King George whiting would take in southern Spencer Gulf, southern Saint Vincent Gulf and Investigator Strait.

It would protect this key spawning area during a critical reproductive period and the taking and possession of King George whiting by all anglers will be illegal, it said.

Fisheries Minister Leon Bignell said the changes were wide-ranging and people needed to make themselves aware of the new rules before they ventured out with their fishing rods.

"The changes announced today will see fishing limits change for 26 different marine and freshwater species and additional protection introduced to safeguard our iconic King George whiting," he said.

"I urge people to download the excellent fisheries app, which has updated information on all the rules and regulations for fishing in SA."

The Yorke Peninsula Council said the Government did not consult widely enough on the potential impact of the new rules.

Mayor Ray Agnew said the changes could directly impact local tourism.

"There has been some consultation across 12 different sites across the state with 800 people," he said.

"[But] there has been absolutely no consultation with the council, so we are disappointed in that because it does really affect the potential for fishing in our area."

Changes made after public feedback

Mr Bignell said the changes followed the release of three planning documents, and hundreds of people then gave feedback at 12 public meetings held across the state.

Recreational anglers say the same changes are not being made for commercial fishing. ( Audience submitted: Kate Matthews )

But a recreational fishing advocacy group, the South Australian Fishing Alliance, responded angrily to the latest changes, saying the same cuts had not been imposed on the commercial fishing industry.

"Snapper, blue crabs, garfish especially [are] grossly overfished by commercials, [but] still have no quotas imposed, while anglers get 50 per cent cuts based on no evidence, so as the commercials continually deplete stocks ... our bag limits will shrink," it said on its Facebook page.

RecFish SA official David Ciaravolo said more than 1,500 members responded to surveys it did and many will be questioning why changes to bag and boat limits were needed.

"Some of the changes seem to align with the survey results that we had [from anglers] and some of them don't sit as well — reducing the bag limit for King George whiting was always going to be something dear to the hearts of many recreational fishers and is always a highly valued recreational fishing species," he said.

The SA Government said research on whiting stocks indicated there was too much pressure from fishing.

Daily bag limits will now be 10 instead of 12 and daily boat limits will fall from 36 to 30, with the legal minimum King George whiting catch size to be 32 centimetres in most SA waters.

"We know that the main thing we need to do is to protect the fisheries for future generations," Mr Bignell said.

For the first time, there will be catch limits for species including whaler sharks, sea urchins, trevally, wrasse and harlequin fish.

New limits will affect mulloway, yabbies and pipi.

Bag and boat limits are being reduced for snapper taken from Spencer Gulf, and other key changes affect the taking of species including Tommy Ruff, garfish, blue swimmer and sand crabs, scallops and kingfish.

As well as on the fisheries app, anglers can check out all the changes on the state primary industries website.