SpearfishingMap

Turkmenistan

Asia · Central Asia

No Turkmenistan law specifically addresses recreational spearfishing (подводная охота). Fishing is governed by the Law of Turkmenistan 'On Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources' (adopted 21 May 2011, amended through 11 April 2026), which regulates commercial, amateur and sport fishing but whose verbatim provisions on permitted gear and methods could not be retrieved online. Turkmenistan is a strongly state-controlled country with restricted internet access and little published recreational-fishing guidance. Practical constraints make marine spearfishing on the Caspian effectively inaccessible to the public: sturgeon fishing in Turkmen Caspian waters has been banned since 1946 and a Caspian-wide commercial sturgeon moratorium runs through 2026; the country's only Caspian protected coastal area (Hazar State Nature Reserve, a strict 'zapovednik') prohibits public access and resource use; and foreign access to the Caspian coast and border-zone areas requires special permits. Recreational fishing with a line is reportedly permitted in inland lakes and rivers (Amu Darya, Murgab, Tejen), but no spearfishing-specific rules were found. Legality of spearfishing is therefore genuinely unknown and should be treated as restricted in practice.

Unknown
Hyder dataHyder isel

Diweddarwyd ddiwethaf Ebrill 17, 2026

Fframwaith llywodraethu

  • §Law of Turkmenistan 'On Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources' (21 May 2011; amendments adopted 11 April 2026)
  • §Law of Turkmenistan 'On Hunting and Protection of Hunting Treasures' (18 December 2021)
  • §Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention, 2003; in force 2006)
  • §Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea (2018)
  • §Caspian littoral states' commercial sturgeon fishing moratorium (extended through 2026)

Y gyfraith, air am air

Testunau cyfreithiol

Y darpariaethau statudol a rheoleiddiol manwl sy'n llywodraethu pysgota â gwaywffon yma, wedi'u dyfynnu fel y'u cyhoeddwyd, gyda dolen i bob ffynhonnell swyddogol.

01Title / preambleTurkmenistan · national

Law on Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources (amendment instrument)

Law of Turkmenistan 'On Amendments and Additions to the Law of Turkmenistan "On Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources"'

RUGwreiddiol

Закон Туркменистана О внесении изменений и дополнения в Закон Туркменистана «О рыболовстве и сохранении водных биологических ресурсов». [Документ вносит поправки в Закон Туркменистана «О рыболовстве и сохранении водных биологических ресурсов» от 21 мая 2011 года. Подписан Президентом Туркменистана Сердаром Бердымухамедовым в Ашхабаде 11 апреля 2026 года.] Поправки уточняют терминологию и порядок добычи (вылова) водных биоресурсов, выдачи разрешений на добычу (вылов), спасения водных биоресурсов, а также промыслового, любительского и спортивного рыболовства.

Pryd gallwch blymio

Tymhorau a chyfyngiadau amser

Cyfnodau caeëdig, agored a chyfyngedig drwy gydol y flwyddyn. Cadarnhewch bob amser gaead rhywogaethau penodol yn lleol.

  • Ar gauSturgeon (all species, Caspian Sea)1946 – ongoing

    Commercial sturgeon fishing in Turkmen waters of the Caspian Sea has been prohibited since 1946 (limited from 1942). A Caspian-wide commercial sturgeon moratorium agreed by the five littoral states (Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan) has been repeatedly extended; catches are permitted only for scientific research and artificial reproduction. As of late 2025 the ban was extended through 2026.

Caniatâd i bysgota

Trwydded

Beth sydd ei angen arnoch i gael caniatâd i fod yn y dŵr, faint mae'n ei gostio, a sut i'w chael.

Trwydded: anhysbys — gwirio yn lleoltrwy Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan (fisheries function); state-owned operator Balkanbalyk on the Caspian
Awdurdod
Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan (fisheries function); state-owned operator Balkanbalyk on the Caspian

Offer a thechneg

Rheolau offer

Pa offer sydd wedi'i ganiatáu, sut y gellir ei ddefnyddio, a'r amodau sydd ynghlwm.

No retrievable Turkmenistan source specifies whether spearguns/harpoons (подводное ружье, острога) are permitted or prohibited for fishing. In neighbouring Caspian states, underwater guns are commonly restricted under fishing rules, but Turkmen rules could not be confirmed. Treat as unknown.

Beth y cewch ei gymryd

Terfynau dal a rhywogaethau gwarchodedig

Cwotâu dyddiol, meintiau lleiafswm, a rhywogaethau na ddylid byth eu cymryd.

Rhywogaethau gwarchodedig — peidiwch â'u cymryd

  • GwarchodedigSturgeon (all Caspian species) — fishing banned
  • GwarchodedigSpecies listed in the Red Book of Turkmenistan
  • GwarchodedigCaspian seal and other reserve fauna within Hazar State Nature Reserve

Annual quotas historically limited sturgeon catch; sturgeon fishing is banned in Turkmen Caspian waters. The Hazar reserve also lists rare fish (Caspian stone eel, spike fish, Volga herring, Caspian bulltrout, white salmon). Specific recreational catch/size limits were not found.

Pwy sy'n cael pysgota

Ymwelwyr a phreswylwyr

Sut mae'r rheolau'n wahanol ar gyfer ymwelwyr tramor a phreswylwyr lleol.

Ymwelwyr tramor

Cyfyngiadau

  • Turkmenistan is highly restrictive for foreign travellers; most independent travel requires a guide and registered tour, and many areas need special permits.
  • The Caspian coast and border zones typically require additional access permits.
  • No published pathway for foreigners to conduct recreational spearfishing was found.

No source confirms any legal route for foreigners to spearfish in Turkmenistan. In practice this should be treated as not available without official authorisation.

Preswylwyr

No spearfishing-specific resident rules were found. Recreational line fishing is reportedly tolerated/permitted on some inland waters, but gear/method rules for residents are not documented in retrievable sources.

Ble ar yr arfordir

Parthau caniatáu a gwaharddedig

Ardaloedd penodol sydd ar agor i neu wedi'u cau ar gyfer pysgota â gwaywffon. Gweler y darlun llawn ar y map rhyngweithiol.

Ardaloedd caniatáu

  • Recreational fishing is reported to be permitted in several small lakes and rivers, notably the Amu Darya, Murgab and Tejen Rivers. No spearfishing-specific rules were found; permitted gear is not documented in retrievable sources.

    Gear and method rules unknown; no published spearfishing authorisation.

Ardaloedd gwaharddedig

  • Hazar State Nature Reserve (incl. Ogurjaly Sanctuary)strict nature reserve (zapovednik) / Ramsar wetland

    Strict state nature reserve (zapovednik) on the south-east coast of the Caspian Sea in Balkan Province, area 2,690 km2. Ramsar wetland of international importance (listed 2009). As a zapovednik it carries Turkmenistan's highest protection regime; public access and resource use (including fishing/hunting) are restricted/prohibited.

  • Caspian Sea (Turkmen waters) — sturgeonspecies-protection / regulated marine zone

    Sturgeon fishing in Turkmen Caspian waters is prohibited (since 1946); a Caspian-wide commercial sturgeon moratorium runs through 2026. Targeting sturgeon by any method, including spearing, is not permitted.

  • Ogurjaly (Ogurchinskiy) Island Sanctuarystrict nature reserve / wildlife sanctuary (offshore island)

    Offshore island (~45 km², ~45 km from Turkmenbashi) in the south-eastern Caspian Sea, administered as part of the Hazar State Nature Reserve. It hosts a Caspian seal haul-out/sanctuary and breeding seabird colonies and is an Important Bird Area; as part of the zapovednik regime, public access and resource extraction (fishing/hunting, hence spearfishing) are restricted/prohibited. Although the file's Hazar entry mentions the Ogurjaly Sanctuary by name, the island itself is a geographically distinct, far-offshore feature ~150 km north of the mainland reserve center point and warrants its own location.

  • State-developed seaside resort on the eastern Caspian shore, ~12 km west of Turkmenbashi, with developed sandy bathing beaches, marinas (Yacht Club Yelken) and swimming areas plus a 30-hectare aquapark hosting ~150,000 visitors a year. As a managed swimming/bathing tourist zone with marinas, in-water spearfishing along these designated beaches is incompatible with bather-safety practice; treat as a no-spearfishing swimming/beach zone (explicit regulatory confirmation for Turkmenistan not retrievable — inferred).

  • Largest seaport of Turkmenistan on the eastern Caspian coast (Turkmenbashi Gulf), a 150-hectare government-owned passenger and cargo port with ferry lines to Baku, Aktau and Astrakhan. Active commercial port waters where in-water fishing/spearfishing is precluded by port operations and security; treat as a prohibited (port) zone (port-operations basis inferred, not from an explicit spearfishing rule).

Cyflyrau ar y dŵr

Cyflyrau byw

Cipolwg morol a thywydd byw ger pwynt cyfeirio arfordirol yn Turkmenistan, o Open-Meteo. Mae cyflyrau'n amrywio ar hyd yr arfordir — triniwch fel dangosol.

Morol byw a thywydd ger Hazar State Nature Reserve (incl. Ogurjaly Sanctuary).

Cyflyrau

Pwy i ofyn iddynt

Awdurdodau

Y cyrff swyddogol sy'n gyfrifol am bysgodfeydd a thrwyddedu.

  • Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan

    environment / agriculture ministry (fisheries and nature protection functions)

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan

    government ministry (Caspian inter-state fisheries cooperation, anti-IUU protocol)

  • Balkanbalyk (state-owned fishing enterprise)

    state fisheries operator (Caspian Sea)

O ble daw hyn

Ffynonellau

Mae pob honiad ar y dudalen hon yn deillio o un o'r cyfeiriadau hyn.

  1. [01]

    Law of Turkmenistan on amendments to the Law 'On Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources' (official government portal)

    Swyddogol
    turkmenistan.gov.tmCyrchwyd Meh 15
  2. [02]

    Ban on commercial sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea extended until 2026 (Turkmenportal)

    Eilradd
    turkmenportal.comCyrchwyd Meh 15
  3. [03]

    Fishing industry in Turkmenistan (Wikipedia)

    Eilradd
    en.wikipedia.orgCyrchwyd Meh 15
  4. [04]

    Hazar State Nature Reserve (Wikipedia)

    Eilradd
    en.wikipedia.orgCyrchwyd Meh 15
  5. [05]

    Protected areas of Turkmenistan (Wikipedia)

    Eilradd
    en.wikipedia.orgCyrchwyd Meh 15
  6. [06]

    Environmental legislation improved in Turkmenistan — Law on Hunting and Protection of Hunting Treasures, 2021 (News Central Asia)

    Eilradd
    newscentralasia.netCyrchwyd Meh 15
  7. [07]

    Caspian states agree on fishing zones, protection for sturgeon (SeafoodSource)

    Eilradd
    seafoodsource.comCyrchwyd Meh 15

Nodiadau'r ymchwilydd

Turkmenistan has a Caspian Sea coastline (~610 km / often cited up to ~1,200 km incl. indentations) and inland fisheries, but there is NO publicly retrievable law that specifically permits or prohibits recreational spearfishing. The governing statute is the Law 'On Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources' (2011, amended 2026); its full verbatim articles on gear/methods could not be obtained online, so law_texts contains only the cited amendment instrument from the official government portal. Per the anti-fabrication rule, no article numbers or gear prohibitions were invented. Key practical constraints: sturgeon ban since 1946 plus Caspian-wide commercial moratorium through 2026; the only Caspian coastal protected area (Hazar zapovednik) prohibits public access; and Turkmenistan's tightly controlled travel regime (guides/permits required, restricted border and coastal zones) makes recreational marine spearfishing effectively inaccessible. spearfishing_allowed is set to 'unknown' and data_confidence to 'low' to reflect genuine uncertainty. Recommended follow-up: obtain the full Russian/Turkmen text of the 2011 law and any 'Правила любительского и спортивного рыболовства' (amateur/sport fishing rules) from FAOLEX or the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection to confirm gear-method provisions.

Aros yn gyfredolMynediad cynnar

Hysbysu fi pan fo rheolau Turkmenistan yn newid

Byddwn yn anfon e-bost atoch pan fo tymhorau neu reoliadau Turkmenistan yn cael eu diweddaru yn ein set ddata.

Hysbysu fi am

Dim sbam — rhybuddion newid yn unig. Dad-danysgrifio unrhyw bryd. Nid ydym byth yn gwerthu eich e-bost.