Italian Spearfishing Regulations

[sasheo]

Hi
Im going to be travelling round italy for a month or so in the summer and was wondering if anyone knew what the regulations are for spearfishing in the sea?
Do I need a licence and if so how do I get one?

Thanks for your help

Chris

[spaghetti]

No license required for spearfishing in the italian seas: just do it.
But you must take note of the following regulations:
-no scuba hunting
-no night hunting
-it is mandatory to dive with a float of buoy with red-white flag and keep within 50 meters from your buoy.
-it is forbidden to keep the speargun loaded out of the water, even on boats of just above your float board
-in summer it is forbidden to spearfish within 500 meters from beaches if swimmers are present (but you can hunt if you go very early in the morning, assuming there's nobody swimming so early)
-stay 200 meters away from ports. harbors, marinas and aquaculture fish breedings
HARVEST LIMITS:
-no lobstering, no scallopping: it's illegal for divers
-groupers are protected: you can cacth maximum one grouper per day
-total daily harvest: maximum 5 kilograms per day, unless one single fish exceeds that weight (example: you can exceed the limit if you catch for example a 23 kilograms amberjack plus 4,99 kilograms of other "mixed" fishes, but you can not exceed the 5 kilogram limit if none of the single fishes caught is singularily over 5kg. Silly, isn't it?)
MARINE PARKS
-check where you are. There are some 60 marine parks all over the country where spearfishing is strictly forbidden. So wherever you go, make sure that you're not inside one of those marine parks.
You're welcome

[Huw]

Nice one spag, i'll bear all of this in mind if i travel over next year sometime!

Huw

[JPPLAY]

Are the rules the same for freshwater spearfishing?

[sasheo]

Thanks for the info Spag, am new to spearfishing so dont think I will have too much trouble with the weight limits!!
One more thing, what about bringing my gun with me do i need to do anything special like get a certificate at the airport or anything?

thanks for your help

Chris

[spaghetti]

Originally Posted by sasheo

what about bringing my gun with me do i need to do anything special like get a certificate at the airport or anything?

thanks for your help

Chris

For Shasheo:
Spearguns are not classified as weapons for the italian law: they're freely sold to anyone as common sport gear, and you can legally bring them around wherever you want. But one advice is useful: don't call or declare them as "guns", because if any airport operator hears of reads the word "gun", he will not resist the temptation to check it, and it will be a useless hassle and waste of time both for you and for him. If anybody asks, just say it's "fishing gear". That's it. Only one time in Milan airport my spearguns have been taken to the police office to be scanned, but no problem: I went there, they checked my guns and gave them back to me with no problem.
For JPPLAY:
Yes, same regulations for lakes, with only two differences:
-in lakes you need a fishing license (cheap for foreign tourists, about 20 bucks), while in the sea you go free.
-in the three major italian lakes where spearfishing is allowed you can spear EVERY species of fish. But still in lakes (only in lakes, not in the sea) you can not spear a fish during the reproduction season of his species. For example, pike is barred this month because italian pikes are making love presently. We can start again to spear them from the 1st of April, when their reproduction season will be officially over. Nothing like this in the sea: you can shoot sea fish with eggs (but I rarely do, my choice)

[JPPLAY]

You have no fish limits in the lakes? You guys have some strange regulations. Most places they give you a book to follow. Thanks for the information though. Hopefully I will be in Italy next year and do some spearfishing.

[Huw]

Spaghetti... does the 5kg limit in the sea include lobsters, crays or octopus etc?

Huw.

[spaghetti]

No JPPLAY, seems I did'n't explain well: in lakes too you have to stay under the 5kg limit. I just meant you can shoot every species of fish (they're all legal: pikes, walleyes, trouts, carp, bluegill, eels, black bass, everything), but within the daily total 5kg harvest limit.
Yes Huw, octopus and crabs count for the limit. But also check my first post above about lobsters.