Spearfishing in Sweden

[Mr. X]

From what i've read hunting with ljuster (spear with 3 "arrows", no clue what the english word for it is) is banned since the 1900, spearfishing was banned around 1961 (i think, not that good info about it). Guns that use rubber bands and are under 50cm are "legal" and does not require a licence. If it use gas/air/spring you need a licence for it.

Here is a copy/paste from the section about fishing.
In short, it says, every thinkable way of fishing is banned, the few things that are allowed is flyfishing, fishingrod and net. You are also not allowed to catch stuff with your hands (lobster, crabs etc).

Thanks for researching this K.Johansson.

Surprised that they allow only short spear guns -- judging by the accidents thread, short guns are involved in most accidents (typically a cheap beginner choice and much easier to point at yourself than a longer gun). Also more easily concealed. No crab or lobster?! How disappointing. I previously had the impression that Sweden was an easy going, tolerant country. Sounds heavily regulated. Are the laws/rules recent - I wonder if it would be worth asking your politicians to review/relax them sufficiently to allow recreational spear fishing (as the EU recently did)? Surprised spear fishing isn't considered part of Viking/Norse culture.

 

[mortenkv]

The reason why they banned it was a gesture to the visiting Hans Hass (after he became un-spearo)... As far as I know.

There is no reason why it should be illegal - but situation is now that it is a very emotional thing in Sweden.

From a danes point of view, sweden is a quite regulated country. But on the other hand they do have a few more liberal laws than the embarrasing fascitic danes concerning refugees. ( my two cents - dont want to hijack the thread).

It would be very unwise to spearfish in Sweden - as they have severe consequence (confiscate ALL used equipment) and such...

are you sure about that 50cm short speargun thing? - cause Im naerly 100% that all Spearfishing is illegal (I know quite a few swedish based spearos - they go to DK)

Morten

 

[Padaxes]

Thanks alot for the info and the offers of help, much appreciated!

Im starting to prefer Denmark over Sweden now!

Is the water really 15 degrees c at this time of year ?

 

[K.Johansson]

Thanks for researching this K.Johansson.

Surprised that they allow only short spear guns -- judging by the accidents thread, short guns are involved in most accidents (typically a cheap beginner choice and much easier to point at yourself than a longer gun). Also more easily concealed. No crab or lobster?! How disappointing. I previously had the impression that Sweden was an easy going, tolerant country. Sounds heavily regulated. Are the laws/rules recent - I wonder if it would be worth asking your politicians to review/relax them sufficiently to allow recreational spear fishing (as the EU recently did)? Surprised spear fishing isn't considered part of Viking/Norse culture.

I really doubt it will be worthwhile to have someone make a fuss about it since it there to protect some species that are about to be extinct (can't name any since i'm really not that good at english name vocabulary).

But i can try and research some more the reason why it still might be prohibited since they are talking about making it legal to hunt big game with bow and arrow (tho very very strict which bow/arrows/skill that are required, and of course license).

 

[K.Johansson]

are you sure about that 50cm short speargun thing? - cause Im naerly 100% that all Spearfishing is illegal (I know quite a few swedish based spearos - they go to DK)

Morten

No I am not, since the info i get is from the internet
but I am 80pct sure since i heard my dive instructor say something about it as well, <50cm and not using gas/spring/air it's not required to have a license to own it, but hunting with it is of course prohibited, it's only legal to use it for target practice.

Edit: Yes all spearfishing in Sweden is illegal, but not owning a gun without license if its shorter then 50cm etc..

 

[K.Johansson]

Im starting to prefer Denmark over Sweden now!

Denmark might legalize weed soon ! (read might).

Is the water really 15 degrees c at this time of year ?

Nope, there is still ice in our lakes so it's more like -1-5 degrees celsius.
For the ocean/sea close to Norway and Denmark i really have no idea since i live quite faar from any ocean/sea.

 

[mortenkv]

Today it was 7c in surface, 4c at 10m
3 days ago it was 4c everywhere...
In may we might write our temp with two digits
Morten

 

[Mr. X]

...From a danes point of view, sweden is a quite regulated country. But on the other hand they do have a few more liberal laws than the embarrasing fascitic danes concerning refugees. ( my two cents - dont want to hijack the thread)...

I wouldn't be too hard on the Danes, I seem to recall they stuck their necks out quite far protecting their Jewish citizens during WWII on the basis that they were Danes like any other.

KJ, coincidently I was walking in a nearby forest this weekend. I always thought the objection to bow hunting in the UK was mainly poaching & safety issues. I'd forgotten that deer hunting is now generally done from tree seats -- to ensure the shots don't go far. I believe that's how a lot (but not all) bow hunting for deer is done in the US too. Pretty safe (although perhaps not as fun as stalking in Scotland). A local farmer's wife told me recently that her husband had to do special training to use his rifle for deer hunting.

 

[Erik]

Denmark is on my horizon for next year, possibly. Hopefully I can hook up with some of you Danes for some spearfishing!

 

[mortenkv]

Great!
I made this Thread to provide the basic info on Denmark ( since we no longer speak about Sweden )


Spearing in Denmark

Cheers,
Morten

 

[K.Johansson]

KJ, coincidently I was walking in a nearby forest this weekend. I always thought the objection to bow hunting in the UK was mainly poaching & safety issues. I'd forgotten that deer hunting is now generally done from tree seats -- to ensure the shots don't go far. I believe that's how a lot (but not all) bow hunting for deer is done in the US too. Pretty safe (although perhaps not as fun as stalking in Scotland). A local farmer's wife told me recently that her husband had to do special training to use his rifle for deer hunting.

Yeah, but if you are going to poach in the first place why bother obey some laws and some not?
There are always some people who cant figure out that some laws actually are there to protect (in this case) animals from suffering to much, thus the strict guidelines of which bows/arrows you can use (tho seeing how things are, I really doubt it will be allowed). And here in Sweden we got pretty big forests to walk about in, and hunting accidents do happen no matter how much safety there is. And here, to even be able to hunt, you need to take a class that's pretty extensive before you even can file for a license for a gun at the police (hunting, since it's the topic.. well sort off).

 

[K.Johansson]

Okay, now i've made some calls to the National Board of Fisheries
(Fiskeriverket). And from the information I gathered they brought up the law in 2005 and decided that it's not that they think fish will get extinct but rather the way of fishing with guns are (quote) unethical (end quote).

They do not see things will change anytime soon either, Mollusca (which i think is the correct English word, at least according to Wikipedia) is legal to catch when diving, but crab and lobster is not, for catching oyster you need the approval of the one owner of the lake/fishingrights up to 200m from land, if that means its ok to catch oyster at 201+m from land i do not know.

So to make things short, spearfishing is prohibited to to it's "unethical" way of catching fish since you can't throw back a fish that's to small, and might just hurt it if you would miss the shot. And i heard some concern that people trying to sunbath might be worried about getting shot while trying to cool down in the water

Hope this helps.

 

[Padaxes]

Im not sure those arguments are very rational! After all spearos are the only fishermen that pick their targets visually.

I mean regular fishing is a bit like fish torture isnt it? Hook them drag them out of the water half drown them rip the hook out and throw them back ?

And Ive never heard of a sunbather getting speared by accident!

 

[mortenkv]

As I wrote: Its a very emotional thing in Sweden... My guess is that they will loose all discussions if challenged. But laws (worldwide) are not always justified by good arguments...

Emotions, popularity, votes, money and fears come often first. So sad.

 

[Old Man Dave]

At the moment this is the only country in the world that I know of that has a blanket ban on spearfishing.

Let me say that most netted fish (gill nets, trawls etc) do not go back alive if the fish are too small or the wrong species. They're dead.

Most fisheries scientists would I'm sure put spearfishing at the top of "ethical" fishing. Some anglers practice catch and release but only spearfishers can practice release and catch ie they can choose to let small or unwanted species go unhindered without catching them and then select fish that they want/need to catch.

Is haunting on land allowed in sweden? If so how is that different from hunting underwater.

I appreciate you didn't make the laws in Sweden and thanks for keeping the info coming. This is an interesting thread.

Dave

 

[Padaxes]

I posted a link in another thread about the wastage in commercial fishing Dave dont know if you caught it:

Fishing fleets squander half their catches - environment - 15 April 2009 - New Scientist

Myabe its time someone challenged this ban in Sweden?

 

[mortenkv]

At the moment this is the only country in the world that I know of that has a blanket ban on spearfishing.

But also: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Taiwan and Egypt of course... They all have a total ban on spearfishing.

As the chairman of Danish Spearfishing Comitee I am working right now on changing a ban in a specific area in Denamrk. This started 3 years ago - and we have doen a bit. We have all the arguments, all the right and everything... but laws and decisions... when it comes down to the nitty gritty, its about influence, power, knowing the right persons and such.

We have been doing lobby work for 2-3 years - so nothing unseen could surprise us. We have now written to the app minister. With some luck we will see it through in some years... As this area is bordering to Sweden, it could have some influence on that as well.

But really: Dont think about the arguments. (yes, Hunting on land is allowed). Its about tradition, influence, identity, prejustice, fears, connections, having an outside enemy - (just like international politics).

If the ban in Sweden should be changed - it should be done by the Swedes. We gladly help with our experiences from "Øresund".


Morten

 

[Padaxes]

Interesting stuff Morten, sounds like you`ve had a long battle!

Of course i wasn`t suggesting outsiders like us could change laws in Sweden

Do they have an organisation in Sweden attempting to get things changed like you are in Denmark ?

 

[K.Johansson]

When i was talking to the guy at the National Board of Fisheries he didnt sound to confident that things would change, they had tried but failed for some reason.. And they didnt have the manpower to push for a change either, at least that's what he told me since i barley have any clue about spearing or reason behind the law i wont try to pass judgement.

It would make more sens if it was allowed in the Baltic Sea but not inland, but im not the one making the law or spearfishing in the first place.. just trying to provide information for you guys since i can gather it more easily.

 

[Padaxes]

thanks again for the info Johansson, very interesting!