Qatar
Asia · Western Asia
Spearfishing (underwater fishing with harpoon-guns) is legal in Qatar only with permission from the fisheries authority. Under the Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 (Article 21(a)), it is unlawful to use any kind of underwater fishing harpoon-gun without permission from the Fisheries Department. A general fishing/diving licence is required (Article 2). In practice, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (Marine Protection Department) and the Ministry of Municipality (Fisheries Department) regulate gear: pneumatic (compressed-air) spearguns are prohibited, while non-pneumatic banded/rubber spearguns are restricted - reportedly banned for catching hamour (grouper) during the April-May reproduction season, and harpoons/spears are reported banned from December to April to protect spawning (these last two come from a single secondary source and are not verbatim-backed). SCUBA-assisted fishing is not part of the permitted recreational framework. Fishing is prohibited near petroleum and military installations and inside designated marine reserves and seasonal closure zones. Methods causing mass extermination (poisons, explosives, chemicals, electricity) are absolutely prohibited.
Last updated June 16, 2026
Governing framework
- §Law No. 4 of 1983 on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources in the State of Qatar
- §Emiri Decree No. 17 of 1993 (amendment to Law No. 4 of 1983)
- §Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
- §Law No. 11 of 2010 (amendments on aquaculture, marine pollution and fishing vessels)
- License required
- Required
- Speargun
- Allowed
- Foreigners
- Welcome
The law, verbatim
Legal texts
The exact statutory and regulatory provisions that govern spearfishing here, quoted as published, with a link to each official source.
Licence required to fish or dive
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
Anyone who wants to practice fishing or diving on foot or by a fishing vessel should obtain a licence issued by the Fisheries Department at the Ministry of Industry and Agriculture.
Use of underwater fishing harpoon-guns requires permission
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
Without permission from the Fisheries Department it shall be unlawful to: (a) use any kind of underwater fishing harpoon-guns; (b) erect or build any barriers or barricades that may hinder the free movement of living aquatic resources; (c) extricate or utilize any marine weeds and plants which are useful for living aquatic resources; (d) use gill nets and other fixed fishing gear in shallow waters; the Fisheries Department shall specify on the licence the location of such gear, its measurements and mesh size.
Closed seasons and prohibited species/areas
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
Article 18. - Fishing of living aquatic resources shall not be allowed during reproduction and spawning seasons determined by the Fisheries Department. Article 19. - The Fisheries Department shall determine: (a) areas where fishing is prohibited during certain seasons; (b) seasons during which fishing is banned and species prohibited to be fished; (c) species of living aquatic resources prohibited to be fished for a specified period or indefinitely in all or some fishing waters.
Prohibited mass-extermination methods
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
It is absolutely prohibited to use methods that cause mass extermination of living aquatic resources such as poisons, explosives, chemical substances, electrical means or any other like methods.
Prohibition on fishing near petroleum or military installations
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
It shall be unlawful to fish near petroleum or military establishments or any other areas determined by the Fisheries Department.
Minimum catch size
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
Article 17. - Fishermen whose catch of fish and shrimps is smaller than the size prescribed by law shall return them to the water. Article 25. - Catching species of fishes under 15 cm. long shall be banned except those specified by the Fisheries Department.
Foreign fishing/diving vessels require ministerial licence
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
No foreign fishing or diving vessels shall practice fishing in the territorial waters specified by law except after obtaining a licence issued by the Minister of Industry and Agriculture, and a licence for the vessel and the crew from the Fisheries Department in conformity with the afore-mentioned clauses.
Licence validity and conditions
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources
Article 3. - The licensee should be of good conduct and behaviour and one who swims well. Article 4. - The validity of the licence shall be for three years and may be renewed thereafter at the request of the licencee. It shall be invalidated if it is not renewed within fifteen days from the date of its expiry.
When you can dive
Seasons & time restrictions
Closed, open and restricted periods across the year. Always confirm species-specific closures locally.
- ClosedHamour (grouper) - banded/rubber speargun harvest prohibitedApr 1 – May 31
REPORTED (single secondary source, no primary decree retrieved): non-pneumatic powered tools such as banded spearguns are said to be prohibited for catching hamour (grouper) during the April-May reproduction season, under Ministry of Environment fishing-equipment rules. This overlaps the reported Dec-Apr harpoon/spear ban below; the two are not independent verbatim-backed rules and the exact decree number and date are unknown. Verify with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change before relying on this.
- ClosedHarpoons / spears (general spearfishing gear)Dec 1 – Apr 30
REPORTED (single secondary source, no primary decree retrieved): certain equipment including harpoons or spears is said to be usable only at specific times of the year and banned from December to April to safeguard reproduction seasons. This period fully encompasses the reported Apr-May hamour banded-speargun ban above; the two overlap and are not independent verbatim-backed rules. Exact decree number/date unknown - verify with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
- ClosedKingfish (King mackerel / Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus spp.)Aug 15 – Oct 15
Recurring annual two-month kingfish (king mackerel) ban run by the Ministry of Municipality (Fisheries Department); during the ban gill-net use, trade and transport are prohibited and only line fishing is permitted. This is a GCC-wide measure applied each year from 15 August to 15 October since 2015, with the 15 Aug - 15 Oct dates confirmed across multiple years (2019, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025) by multiple Qatari outlets.
- ClosedBlue crabMar 1 – Mar 31
Recurring annual blue crab fishing ban. Under Ministerial Decision No. 108 of 2025 (Ministry of Municipality), the seasonal ban is limited to the month of March each year (reduced from the earlier three-month March-May ban), and fishing female blue crabs carrying eggs is prohibited year-round by any method. Earlier announcements (e.g. 2022, 2024) used a longer February/March-April/May window; the current rule is March only.
Permission to fish
License
What you need to be allowed in the water, what it costs, and how to get it.
Apply to the Fisheries Department (Ministry of Municipality; historically Ministry of Industry and Agriculture). Licensee must be of good conduct and a competent swimmer. Use of harpoon-guns requires separate Fisheries Department permission.
Get your licenseOpens the official portal · faolex.fao.org
- Type
- Fishing/diving licence (personal) issued by the Fisheries Department; separate ministerial permission required for underwater harpoon-guns under Art. 21(a)
- Cost
- Nominal statutory fee under the Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 (historically reported as around 10 Qatari Riyals for a personal fishing licence and 100 QR for a vessel licence); the exact current fee schedule was not retrievable as verbatim text and should be confirmed with the Fisheries Department.
- Validity
- Three years for the personal fishing/diving licence (Article 4, quoted verbatim below); a separate fishing-vessel licence is reported to be valid one year, but the governing article could not be verified verbatim.
- How to obtain
- Apply to the Fisheries Department (Ministry of Municipality; historically Ministry of Industry and Agriculture). Licensee must be of good conduct and a competent swimmer. Use of harpoon-guns requires separate Fisheries Department permission.
- Authority
- Fisheries Department, Ministry of Municipality (formerly Ministry of Industry and Agriculture / Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture)
Gear & technique
Equipment rules
What gear is permitted, how it may be used, and the conditions attached.
Restrictions
- Use of any kind of underwater fishing harpoon-gun is unlawful without permission from the Fisheries Department (Art. 21(a), Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985).
- Pneumatic (compressed-air) spearguns are prohibited.
- Non-pneumatic banded/rubber spearguns are restricted: prohibited for catching hamour (grouper) during the April-May reproduction season.
- Harpoons/spears reported banned from December to April to protect spawning seasons.
- Methods causing mass extermination - poisons, explosives, chemical substances, electrical means - are absolutely prohibited (Art. 28).
- Bottom trawl nets, cast/casting nets and certain other nets are banned by ministerial decree.
The 1985 Executive Regulations permit underwater harpoon-guns only with Fisheries Department permission. Current enforcement by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change additionally bans pneumatic spearguns and restricts banded spearguns by season/species (hamour). SCUBA-assisted spearfishing is not part of the permitted recreational framework; verify directly with the authority before diving.
What you may take
Catch limits & protected species
Daily quotas, minimum sizes, and species that must never be taken.
Daily limit
unknown
Minimum sizes
- Fish (general minimum)min 15 cm
Protected species — do not take
- ProtectedMarine turtles (reported protection - taking eggs from islands/coasts prohibited without approval under the 1985 Regulations; exact article not verified verbatim)
- ProtectedMarine birds (reported protection - taking eggs prohibited without approval; exact article not verified verbatim)
- ProtectedWhale shark (Rhincodon typus) - protected; congregates off Al Shaheen Apr-Sep
- ProtectedHamour / grouper (seasonal protection Apr-May, reported via Doha News)
- ProtectedKingfish / king mackerel (recurring annual ban Aug 15 - Oct 15, GCC-wide since 2015)
Catching fish under 15 cm long is banned except species specified by the Fisheries Department (Art. 25, quoted verbatim); undersized fish and shrimp must be returned to the water (Art. 17, quoted verbatim). The 1985 Regulations are reported to require annual catch to be limited and distributed across seasons for conservation, but the exact article (cited elsewhere as Art. 26) could not be confirmed verbatim. No published recreational daily bag limit was located.
Who may fish
Visitors & residents
How the rules differ for foreign visitors and local residents.
Foreign visitors
AllowedSpecial license required
Requirements
- Foreign fishing or diving vessels must obtain a licence issued by the Minister (Ministry of Industry and Agriculture / Ministry of Municipality), plus a vessel and crew licence from the Fisheries Department (Art. 11, quoted verbatim in law_texts).
- A personal fishing/diving licence is required as for residents (Art. 2, quoted verbatim in law_texts).
Restrictions
- Foreign anglers have been singled out by local authorities as a pressure on hamour and other domestic stocks; enforcement is reported to be active.
- Fishery companies operating in territorial zones are reported to be restricted from using foreigner-owned vessels without Fisheries Department permission under the 1985 Regulations; the exact article could not be confirmed verbatim.
Foreigners and tourists practising recreational spearfishing should obtain the required licence/permission; foreign vessels face additional ministerial licensing. Confirm current procedures with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change / Ministry of Municipality before fishing.
Residents
Personal fishing/diving licence issued by the Fisheries Department, valid three years
Requirements
- Be of good conduct and a competent swimmer (Art. 3, quoted verbatim in law_texts).
- Carry the personal licence during fishing operations and produce it on request (reported requirement under the 1985 Regulations; the exact article was not verifiable verbatim).
- Obtain separate Fisheries Department permission to use underwater harpoon-guns (Art. 21(a), quoted verbatim in law_texts).
Benefits
- The 1985 Regulations are reported to exempt non-commercial amateur fishermen who do not fish for lucrative purposes from some of their provisions; the exact exemption article was not retrievable as verbatim text.
The 1985 Regulations are reported to contain an exemption for non-commercial amateur fishermen, but the underlying Law No. 4 of 1983 and current ministerial gear/season bans (pneumatic speargun ban, hamour and kingfish closures, protected zones) still apply to recreational spearos in practice. Article references for the carry-licence and amateur-exemption provisions could not be confirmed verbatim against the source and are stated as reported rather than quoted.
Where on the coast
Allowed & prohibited zones
Named areas that are open to or closed for spearfishing. See the full picture on the interactive map.
Allowed areas
Recreational and artisanal fishing/diving is generally permitted in Qatari territorial waters subject to a fishing/diving licence and gear rules. Underwater harpoon-guns require Fisheries Department permission (Art. 21(a) of Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985).
Licence required; pneumatic spearguns prohibited; banded spearguns restricted in closed seasons; no fishing near petroleum/military installations or inside marine reserves.
Prohibited areas
- Khor Al Adaid (Inland Sea) Nature Reservemarine and coastal nature reserve
Qatar's largest nature reserve, including a substantial marine protected area, designated under Law No. 1 of 2007. On UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List. Fishing/extraction restricted as a protected reserve.
- Al Reem Biosphere Reservebiosphere reserve (terrestrial and marine)
UNESCO Man and the Biosphere reserve in northwest Qatar (approx. 1,154 km2, ~10% of the country), designated as a protected area in 2005 (Laws 7 and 8 of 2005) protecting terrestrial and marine animals.
- Al Shaheen oil field zonepetroleum installation exclusion zone
No fishing has been permitted in this sensitive offshore oil-field zone for several decades; cited as a de facto protected area linked to the whale shark and tuna spawning aggregation. Fishing near petroleum installations is unlawful under Article 24.
- Petroleum and military installations (general)petroleum / military exclusion zone
It is unlawful to fish near petroleum or military establishments or any other areas determined by the Fisheries Department (Article 24, Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985).
Conditions on the water
Live conditions
Live marine and weather snapshot near a coastal reference point in Qatar, from Open-Meteo. Conditions vary along the coast — treat as indicative.
Live marine & weather near Khor Al Adaid (Inland Sea) Nature Reserve.
Who to ask
Authorities
The official bodies responsible for fisheries and licensing.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (Marine Protection Department)
environment ministry / marine protection
Ministry of Municipality - Fisheries Department (Fish Affairs / Fish Wealth Department)
fisheries authority
Where this comes from
Sources
Every claim on this page traces back to one of these references.
- [01]
Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 for the Law on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources in the State of Qatar (English, FAOLEX)
Officialfaolex.fao.orgAccessed Jun 15 - [02]
Law No. 4 of 1983 on the Exploitation and Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources in Qatar (ECOLEX record)
Officialecolex.orgAccessed Jun 15 - [03]
FAO - Review of the state of world marine capture fisheries management: Qatar country review
Officialfao.orgAccessed Jun 15 - [04]
Qatar bans use of some fishing equipment to protect wildlife - Doha News (pneumatic/banded speargun and harpoon rules)
Secondarydohanews.coAccessed Jun 15 - [05]
Two-month kingfish netting ban begins today, Aug 15 - The Peninsula Qatar
Secondarythepeninsulaqatar.comAccessed Jun 16 - [06]
Kingfish: Maritime Treasure Poised Between Protective Endeavors - Qatar News Agency (annual GCC kingfish ban 15 Aug - 15 Oct, 2025)
Officialqna.org.qaAccessed Jun 16 - [07]
Ministry of Municipality announces ban on blue crab fishing in March each year (Ministerial Decision No. 108 of 2025) - The Peninsula Qatar
Secondarythepeninsulaqatar.comAccessed Jun 16 - [08]
Fishermen caught using illegal gear as ministry cracks down on fishing violations - Qatar Tribune (Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Marine Protection Department)
Secondaryqatar-tribune.comAccessed Jun 15 - [09]
Khor Al Adaid - Wikipedia (coordinates and protected reserve status)
Secondaryen.wikipedia.orgAccessed Jun 15 - [10]
Natural areas of Qatar - Wikipedia (Al Reem, marine reserves)
Secondaryen.wikipedia.orgAccessed Jun 15 - [11]
Whale shark residency and small-scale movements around oil and gas platforms in Qatar - Frontiers in Marine Science (Al Shaheen no-fishing zone)
Secondaryfrontiersin.orgAccessed Jun 15
Researcher notes
Primary verbatim legal text is from the Executive Regulations No. 2 of 1985 (FAOLEX official English translation, qat4905E.pdf), which implements Law No. 4 of 1983 (amended by Emiri Decree No. 17 of 1993 and Law No. 11 of 2010). The decisive spearfishing provision is Article 21(a): underwater harpoon-guns are unlawful WITHOUT Fisheries Department permission - hence 'restricted' rather than outright prohibited. The law_texts block quotes verbatim only the articles that were actually legible in the source (Articles 2, 3, 4, 11, 17, 18, 19, 21(a), 24, 25, 28). VERIFICATION CAVEAT: the FAOLEX PDF is a scanned/JBIG2 image and could not be re-parsed as machine text on this pass; the al-Meezan official portal (almeezan.qa) fails with a TLS certificate error. As a result, several article-level references that previously appeared as facts elsewhere in this record - the licence fee schedule (formerly cited as Art. 13(a)), vessel-licence validity (Art. 7), carry-licence duty (Art. 6), annual catch distribution (Art. 26), foreigner-owned-vessel restriction (Art. 40), turtle/bird egg protection (Art. 50) and the amateur-fisher exemption (Art. 51) - could NOT be confirmed verbatim and have been downgraded throughout to 'reported' phrasing rather than asserted with article-level precision. They are not invented; they reflect the FAOLEX instrument and secondary summaries, but the precise text was not retrievable. Current ministerial enforcement (Ministry of Environment and Climate Change; Ministry of Municipality Fisheries Department) layers additional gear and seasonal rules: pneumatic spearguns banned; banded spearguns reported restricted for hamour Apr-May; harpoons/spears reported banned Dec-Apr (these last two come from a single secondary source - Doha News - which returned 403 to the fetch tool but was corroborated via multiple search snippets; the two periods overlap and are not independent verbatim-backed rules; exact decree number/date unknown). Better-corroborated seasons: the kingfish netting ban (15 Aug - 15 Oct each year, GCC-wide since 2015, confirmed across multiple years and outlets) and the blue crab ban (now March only each year plus year-round protection of egg-bearing females, under Ministerial Decision No. 108 of 2025). All of the above should be verified directly with the relevant ministry before operational reliance. No published recreational daily bag limit was located.
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