Sea angling in Norway – Regulations for foreign visitors

You are very welcome to fish in Norwegian sea waters, provided that you follow these simple rules:

Use hand held tackle only. (It is prohibited to fish species that you can only catch legally with other gear than handheld tackle.)

Follow the regulations for minimum fish sizes

It is illegal to sell your catch.

You must keep a distance of more than 100 metres from the closest fish farm when fishing. All boat traffic shall keep a distance of at least 20 metres from fish farms and moorings for fish farms.

Registered fishing camps are obliged to report catches to the fisheries authorities. Please contact the fishing camp to report your catch.

Release all halibut above 2 metres long

Tourists are not permitted to take part directly in catching king crab but a certain quota has been allocated to the tourist fishing industry in Finnmark.

Tourists with an approved marksman licence are permitted under certain conditions to take part in seal hunting on the coast, together with Norwegian citizens. Read more on seal hunting

Only tourists fishing from a registered fishing camp are allowed to bring  fish or fish products out of the country when leaving Norway. The limit of 18 kilos of fish or fish products can be exported out of Norway twice a year. Read more on export quota

Do not fish protected species

Species protected all year

• Spiny dogfish
• Basking shark
• Porbeagle
• Blue ling
• Lobster
• Bluefin tuna
• Silk shark
• Eel
• Wrasse
• Cod (in the Oslofjord)

Species protected part of the year

• Greenland halibut
• Halibut
• Lumpfish
• Redfish
• Cod: Fourteen areas from Lindesnes to the Skagerak coast, in the Oslofjord and to the border of Sweden from 1 January to 30 April

Please respect wildlife and do not litter. Always wear a life jacket at sea and respect the weather – it can change quickly.