Marine recreational and sport fisheries
Marine sport and recreational fisheries require a licence, which you can also purchase electronically
Recreational and sport fisheries in the fishing sea of the Republic of Croatia require a licence, regardless of whether or not they are conducted from the shore or from a boat.The type and amount of fishing gear and equipment that fishermen may use for fishing at sea, the manner of conducting sport or recreational fisheries, the types of licences for marine sport or recreational fisheries and licences for fishing with bottom-set longlines and the fee amount for certain types of licences are prescribed under the Ordinance on Marine Sport and Recreational Fisheries.
If the manner of conducting marine sport or recreational fisheries is not prescribed under this Ordinance, the provisions of the Marine Fisheries Act will apply, as well as the provisions of regulations adopted pursuant to the Act in relation to the manner of use and purpose of fishing gear and equipment that may be used in commercial marine fisheries.
Marine sport or recreational fisheries may be conducted only with a daily, multi-day, monthly or annual licence intended for marine sport or recreational fisheries.
Types of fishing licences
Recreational licences:- annual recreational licences valid for the calendar year
- one-day recreational licences
- multi-day recreational licences
- annual sport licences valid for the calendar year
- one-day sport licences
- multi-day sport licences
- for fishing with harpoons (one (1) piece), using pots (up to three (3) pieces), set longlines (one or more with a total of up to 100 hooks) and artificial lights (one lighting fitting of up to 40 W for a filament lamp, 30 W for a halogen lamp and 10 W for a LED lamp per vessel, exclusively for fishing with harpoons or jiggers targeting cephalopods), that can only be issued to holders of an annual licence
- for fishing with hooks and lines for large fish with up to three articles (rod and reel) with one hook per article or one wobbler per article, that can only be issued to holders of an annual sport licence
- for fishing in marine areas that are protected under regulations on protection of nature in the national park, special reserve and nature park categories. The type and pricing of licences for these areas will be prescribed under special acts by competent public institutions. Until the entry into force of these acts, sport and recreational fisheries in these areas are allowed only under the conditions prescribed by the Ordinance on Marine Sport and Recreational Fisheries, unless restrictions have been prescribed by special regulations under the competence of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy or a public institution managing certain areas.
Permitted fishing gear and equipment
A fisherman in possession of a sport or recreational licence may only fish from a vessel or the shore if he or she owns the following fishing gear:- “odmet” handline, up to two (2) pieces in total;
- “kančenica” handline, up to two (2) pieces in total;
- trolling line, up to two (2) pieces in total;
- jiggers targeting cephalopods, up to two (2) pieces in total;
- device targeting Eunice gigantea worms, up to two (2) pieces in total.
Only holders of marine sport fishery licences may, in addition to the mentioned fishing gear, also use underwater spear guns, up to two (2) pieces in total. Fishermen fishing from a vessel may use a rod and reel of up to 30 lb.
Purchase of licences
All users (regardless of their permanent residence) may purchase daily, multi-day and annual recreational licences, as well as the accompanying special fishing licences at the Ministry of Agriculture - Directorate of Fisheries or its branch offices, with legal and natural persons authorised for the sale of marine recreational fishery licences and onlineMarine recreational fishery licences.
Annual recreational licences for pensioners under 65 years of age and annual recreational licences for disabled veterans of the Homeland War (HRVI) may be purchased only at the Ministry of Agriculture - Directorate of Fisheries or its branch offices, or with legal and natural persons authorised for the sale of licences (but not online) as the mentioned users have to submit documents proving their status when purchasing the licence.
All types of marine sport fishery licences, as well as the accompanying special licences, may be purchased by fishermen with member organisations of the Croatian Association for Marine Sport Fisheries (sport and fishing clubs), and daily and multi-day marine sport fishery licences can also be purchased via the website of the Association.
Annual (sport or recreational) fishery licences can be purchased from 1 December to 1 March.
Upon successful online purchase of a (marine sport or recreational fishery) licence, a confirmation will be automatically sent to the given e-mail address, containing the serial number of the licence.
Fishing without a licence
As an exception, persons under the age of 14 do not require a licence for recreational fishing with one handline or without using a rod. For more information on this matter, the fishing area, types of licences and fees, visit the website of the Ministry of AgricultureMarine fisheries.