SpearfishingMap

Serbia

Europe · Southern Europe

Serbia is a landlocked country with no sea coast, so all fishing is freshwater (rivers, lakes, reservoirs). Spearfishing / underwater fishing is explicitly prohibited. The Law on Protection and Sustainable Use of Fish Stocks (Official Gazette RS No. 128/2014 and 95/2018), in Article 22(1)(3), bans catching fish with harpoons (harpun), spears (osti), underwater guns / spearguns (podvodna puška), explosives and other prohibited means. Recreational fishing is legally defined (Article 2, point 21) as a non-commercial activity using only rod-and-line tackle and auxiliary net tools. There is therefore no legal route to recreational spearfishing in Serbia, and no spearfishing licence exists. A standard recreational fishing permit is required for ordinary angling but does not authorise spearfishing.

Prohibited
Data confidenceHigh confidence

Last updated June 15, 2026

Governing framework

  • §Zakon o zaštiti i održivom korišćenju ribljeg fonda (Law on Protection and Sustainable Use of Fish Stocks), Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 128/2014 and 95/2018
  • §Pravilnik o vrednosti dnevne, višednevne i godišnje dozvole za rekreativni ribolov (Rulebook on the value of daily, multi-day and annual recreational fishing permits) - annual rulebooks
Speargun
Prohibited
Foreigners
Not allowed
Max spears
0

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.

01Član 22, stav 1, tačka 3)Republic of Serbia · national

Prohibited fishing methods and tools (harpoons, spears, spearguns)

Zakon o zaštiti i održivom korišćenju ribljeg fonda ("Sl. glasnik RS", br. 128/2014 i 95/2018)

SROriginal

loviti ribu eksplozivom i drugim rasprskavajućim sredstvima, harpunom, ostima, podvodnom puškom i drugim zabranjenim ili nedozvoljenim sredstvima

02Član 2, tačka 21)Republic of Serbia · national

Definition of recreational fishing (rod-and-line and auxiliary net tools only)

Zakon o zaštiti i održivom korišćenju ribljeg fonda ("Sl. glasnik RS", br. 128/2014 i 95/2018)

SROriginal

rekreativni ribolov je neprivredna aktivnost i podrazumeva lov polno zrelih riba udičarskim i pomoćnim mrežarskim alatima radi zadovoljenja potreba građana za rekreacijom

When you can dive

Seasons & time restrictions

Closed, open and restricted periods across the year. Always confirm species-specific closures locally.

  • ClosedAll recreational fishing - spearfishing is prohibited at all times regardless of season

    Spearfishing is banned year-round under Article 22 of the Law on Protection and Sustainable Use of Fish Stocks. Species-specific closed seasons (lovostaj) and minimum catch lengths apply to permitted rod-and-line angling but are not relevant to spearfishing, which is never permitted.

    paragraf.rs

Permission to fish

License

What you need to be allowed in the water, what it costs, and how to get it.

License: unknown — verify locallyvia Ministarstvo nadležno za poslove zaštite i održivog korišćenja ribljeg fonda (ministry responsible for fish-stock protection) via fishing-area users

Issued by the fishing-area user (korisnik ribarskog područja), e.g. Srbijašume or angling associations, plus membership card. Not applicable to spearfishing.

Get your license

Opens the official portal · paragraf.rs

Type
No spearfishing licence exists. A general recreational fishing permit (dozvola za rekreativni ribolov) is required for ordinary rod-and-line angling, but it does not and cannot authorise spearfishing, which is prohibited by law.
Cost
Recreational angling permit (not spearfishing): annual senior approx. 9,000 RSD; daily approx. 1,300 RSD; multi-day approx. 2,600 RSD (2024 rulebook values, vary slightly by year and fishing-area user).
Validity
Annual (calendar year), daily, or multi-day (up to 7 days) for ordinary angling.
How to obtain
Issued by the fishing-area user (korisnik ribarskog područja), e.g. Srbijašume or angling associations, plus membership card. Not applicable to spearfishing.
Authority
Ministarstvo nadležno za poslove zaštite i održivog korišćenja ribljeg fonda (ministry responsible for fish-stock protection) via fishing-area users
Official licensing portal · paragraf.rs

Gear & technique

Equipment rules

What gear is permitted, how it may be used, and the conditions attached.

SpeargunProhibited
Max spears0

Restrictions

  • Harpoons (harpun) are prohibited - Article 22(1)(3)
  • Spears (osti) are prohibited - Article 22(1)(3)
  • Underwater guns / spearguns (podvodna puška) are prohibited - Article 22(1)(3)
  • Explosives and other bursting/blasting devices are prohibited - Article 22(1)(3)
  • Permitted recreational fishing is limited to rod-and-line (udičarski) and auxiliary net tools only - Article 2(21)

All speargun/harpoon/spear equipment is illegal for fishing. Only rod-and-line tackle is lawful for recreational fishing.

What you may take

Catch limits & protected species

Daily quotas, minimum sizes, and species that must never be taken.

Daily limit

Not applicable to spearfishing (prohibited). Daily catch limits and minimum lengths exist for permitted rod-and-line angling under the law and implementing rulebooks.

Catch limits, minimum lengths (lovne dužine) and closed seasons (lovostaji) apply only to lawful rod-and-line angling, not to spearfishing, which is banned outright.

Who may fish

Visitors & residents

How the rules differ for foreign visitors and local residents.

Foreign visitors

Not allowed

Restrictions

  • Spearfishing is prohibited for everyone in Serbia, including foreign visitors - Article 22(1)(3)
  • Foreigners may obtain ordinary recreational angling permits but never a spearfishing permit, as none exists

The statutory ban on harpoons/spears/spearguns applies equally to residents and foreigners.

Residents

Recreational angling permit only (no spearfishing permit exists)

Requirements

  • Membership card and recreational fishing permit required for lawful rod-and-line angling
  • Permit generally required from age 14

Benefits

  • Reduced permit fees for seniors (65+), women, youth, juniors and persons with disabilities under annual rulebooks

Residents have no lawful means to spearfish; the prohibition is universal.

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.

Prohibited areas

  • Entire territory of the Republic of Serbia (all fishing waters)national statutory ban (all freshwater fishing areas)

    Spearfishing with harpoon, spear or speargun is prohibited on all fishing waters nationwide under Article 22(1)(3) of the Law on Protection and Sustainable Use of Fish Stocks. The country is landlocked, so only freshwater bodies (rivers such as the Danube, Sava, Tisa, Morava; lakes and reservoirs) exist, and the ban applies to all of them.

    paragraf.rs
View on map

Who to ask

Authorities

The official bodies responsible for fisheries and licensing.

  • Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine (Ministry of Environmental Protection) - sector for fish-stock protection and sustainable use

    environment ministry / fisheries authority

    ekologija.gov.rs

  • Ribočuvarska služba i ribarski inspektori (fishery wardens and fisheries inspectors)

    enforcement / inspection

    paragraf.rs

Where this comes from

Sources

Every claim on this page traces back to one of these references.

  1. [01]

    Zakon o zaštiti i održivom korišćenju ribljeg fonda (full consolidated text, Paragraf legal database)

    Official
    paragraf.rsAccessed Jun 15
  2. [02]

    Zakon o zaštiti i održivom korišćenju ribljeg fonda - official text, Legal Information System of the Republic of Serbia

    Official
    pravno-informacioni-sistem.rsAccessed Jun 15
  3. [03]

    Zakon o zaštiti i održivom korišćenju ribljeg fonda - PDF hosted by Serbian Customs Administration (Uprava carina)

    Official
    carina.rsAccessed Jun 15
  4. [04]

    Pravilnik o vrednosti dnevne, višednevne i godišnje dozvole za rekreativni ribolov za 2024. godinu (permit prices)

    Secondary
    paragraf.rsAccessed Jun 15
  5. [05]

    FAOLEX - Serbia fisheries legislation record

    Official
    faolex.fao.orgAccessed Jun 15

Researcher notes

Serbia is landlocked (coastline=false); all fishing is freshwater. Spearfishing is unambiguously illegal: Article 22(1)(3) of the Law on Protection and Sustainable Use of Fish Stocks (Sl. glasnik RS 128/2014, 95/2018) lists harpoons (harpun), spears (osti) and underwater guns (podvodna puška) among prohibited catching means, and Article 2(21) restricts recreational fishing to rod-and-line and auxiliary net tools. Verbatim Serbian legal text was retrieved from the Paragraf legal database (paragraf.rs), a long-established Serbian legal publisher carrying consolidated statute text; the official government portals (pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs and government PDFs) host the same law but their pages are JS-rendered or stored as compressed PDFs that could not be text-extracted via automated fetch, so they are listed as corroborating sources. data_confidence=high because the operative prohibition is short, explicit, and consistently reproduced across independent fetches. No marine/coastal data applies. License 'required' set to null because no spearfishing licence exists (the field would be misleading as true/false for an activity that is outright banned).

Stay currentEarly access

Notify me when Serbia's rules change

We'll email you when Serbia's seasons or regulations are updated in our dataset.

Notify me about

No spam — only change alerts. Unsubscribe anytime. We never sell your email.