Recreational fishing rules in Basque Country

Licences

• SurfaceShoreBoat

  From shore or from a 7th list boat. Up to 5 years.

• SpearfishingSpearfishing

  Swimming or free-diving. Up to 1 year.

Age and requirements: Over 16.

Applied for in person: Bilbao (by appointment), Donostia, Bermeo or Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Bag limits

• 5 kg per licence per day (or a single fish if heavier).
• With 5 or more licence holders on board: 25 kg per boat per day.Boat
• Sea bass: east of Santa Clara island (Donostia), 1 fish of at least 44 cm; to the west, 42 cm.
• Albacore, bigeye tuna and hake: 5 fish per licence per day and 20 per boat (with 4 or more licences). Marlins, spearfish and sailfish: 1 per licence and 4 per boat.Boat
• Swordfish and bluefin tuna: banned.Boat

Closed seasons

No closed seasons for fish specific to recreational fishing in the rules we checked.

Hours · Distances

• Spearfishing and boat fishing: sunrise to sunset.BoatSpearfishing
• No fishing in ports while boats enter or leave, nor in navigation channels.ShoreBoat
• 100 m from marked bathing areas (spearfishing, 250 m).
• 100 m from professional boats and set gear, 300 m from purse seiners and 500 m from pole-and-line tuna fishing.BoatSpearfishing

No-fishing zones or zones with their own rules

• Banned in closed areas, biological reserves, protected biotopes (such as Gaztelugatxe) and special protection areas where their rules say so.

Also

• In inner waters some shellfish may be taken, with limits, closed seasons and sizes (annex III of Decree 198/2000).Shore
• Basque inner waters: landward of the line Cape Higuer – San Antón island (Getaria) – Cape Matxitxako – Cape Villano – Punta del Pescador.

All along the coast

• Sea bass, pollack, sole, hake and albacore, among others: log every catch in the PescaREC app within 24 hours, including those you release.
• Selling or trading your catch is banned.
• If a fish is under the minimum size, return it alive.