Norway

Notas del investigador

Spearfishing is legal and culturally established in Norway (it has a Store norske leksikon entry and an active diving-federation community), but it is 'restricted' rather than freely 'yes' because it inherits the full recreational sea-fishing rule set plus several spearfishing-relevant area/species bans. Key points: (1) Lobster, salmon/sea trout and freshwater fish (except pike) may not be speared. (2) Cod is banned year-round in the Oslofjord; all fishing including diving is banned 1 Jan-30 Apr in 14 coastal-cod spawning areas (Lindesnes to Swedish border). Note a documented source conflict: an earlier Statsforvalteren consultation page stated 'Undervannsjakt i gytefeltene vil være tillatt siden dette er helt selektivt' (spearfishing in spawning grounds would be allowed as fully selective), but the current Fiskeridirektoratet guidance explicitly states 'Forbudet gjelder også ved dykking' (the ban also applies while diving). The Directorate's current position (ban applies to diving) is treated as authoritative. (3) Pneumatic spearguns are regulated under the Weapons Act (18+, secure storage); rubber spearguns are not. (4) Night spearfishing is NOT banned in Norway (unlike the EU rule). (5) Foreigners are allowed but face a 15 kg export limit (twice/year, as of 1 Jan 2026; reduced to 10 kg from 1 Jan 2027) only via a registered tourist-fishing business / fishing camp. The minimum sizes in catch_limits are the general minstemål from høstingsforskriften § 47; recreational fishers have exemptions (no minimum for sei, makrell, brosme, steinbit, lyr if not sold). The § 47 verbatim_text in law_texts is a faithful excerpt of the Lovdata § 47 numbered list (opening sentence 'Det er forbudt å fiske fisk mindre enn:' followed by the original item numbers/sub-letters for the relevant species), with omitted unrelated species marked '[...]'; the cited Lovdata anchor has been corrected to %C2%A747 (§ 47). SCUBA-assisted spearfishing legality was not confirmed in official sources and is left unknown; note that the EU 2019 ban on night spearfishing and on spearfishing with breathing apparatus (tanks) does NOT apply in Norway per the Directorate of Fisheries (secondary source frivannsliv.no), so there is no Norwegian prohibition on tank-assisted spearfishing on record, but no primary source affirmatively authorises it either. Data confidence overall raised to HIGH: the two foundational claims are now backed by verbatim PRIMARY law fetched from Lovdata — (a) the recreational/sport sea-fishing framework with non-citizens limited to 'sportsfiske med handreiskapar' and the sale ban (havressurslova LOV-2008-06-06-37 §§ 22-23), and (b) the freshwater spear (lyster) prohibition with the firearms-for-pike exception (lakse- og innlandsfiskloven LOV-1992-05-15-47 § 37, full numbered list reproduced verbatim). The 'sea is free for everyone, no licence' public statement is corroborated by official Fiskeridirektoratet guidance plus Visit Norway. Residual caveats (not blocking high): the § 47 minstemål excerpt is partial; the havressurslova § 22 first-ledd gear list is bracket-flagged (the precise enumerated gear was not captured verbatim and is glossed, never invented); two map zones use approximate region centroids; and the documented spawning-ground-diving source conflict persists (current Directorate position 'Forbudet gjelder også ved dykking' treated as authoritative). The tourist export quota was corrected from the previously-recorded 18 kg to the current 15 kg (effective 1 Jan 2026, reducing to 10 kg from 1 Jan 2027) per the official Export-quota page. Inland/freshwater spearfishing: Spearfishing (use of lyster/harpoons as a catching method) in all Norwegian inland/freshwater is prohibited under the Salmon and Inland Fish Act (lakse- og innlandsfiskloven, LOV-1992-05-15-47 § 37), which bans pointed implements not designed to be swallowed by fish; the Act's sole freshwater exception is the use of firearms for pike, which does not extend to spears or spear-guns — confirmed by the Norwegian Environment Agency.