Sierra Leone

14. (1) No person shall engage in any of the following activities without a valid licence or authorisation issued by the Director of Fisheries under this Act – (a) using a fishing vessel (national or foreign) for fishing or related activities, including diving for commercial fishing purposes, commercial sport fishing and recreational fishing;

18. (1) The Inshore Exclusion Zone shall be reserved for artisanal and recreational fisheries.

“Inshore Exclusion Zone” consists of all waters seawards of the low-water line along the coast of Sierra Leone to the line connecting the following coordinates of latitude and longitude as may be defined in Regulations made under this Act;

40. (1) No person shall, for the purpose of killing, taking, stunning, stupefying or disabling fish or in any way rendering fish more easily caught- (a) use, permit to be used or attempt to use; (b) support or facilitate any person to use or attempt to use; (c) carry, permit to be carried, possess or control; or (d) place in the water or assist in placing in the water, any chemical, poison or noxious substance, bomb, electrical device, or material (whether of manufactured or of natural origin), dynamite or explosive substance or device.

“marine protected area” means a form of marine reserve and includes any area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying waters and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved pursuant to the Act to protect part or all of the enclosed environment;

“gear” in relation to fishing, includes any equipment, implement or other thing that can be used in the act of fishing or related activities, including any net, rope, line, float, trap, hook, hookah gear, scuba gear, winch, boat, craft or aircraft carried on board a vessel, fish finding equipment, fish aggregating devices, aircraft or vehicle used in association with the act of fishing;

6. A person shall not, for the purpose of fishing use, permit to be used or attempt to use- (a) fishing gear that has not been authorised by a valid and applicable licence issued under these Regulations; (b) the technique of pair trawling; (c) monofilament net; (d) more than 1 net at a time when fishing with trawl net; (e) attachments to any trawl net, except as specified in the Sixth Schedule; (f) a gill net, whether drifting or set, in any river of body of water forming part of the riverine system if the mesh of the net is less than 45 millimetres in stretched diagonal length; (g) a beach seine net; or (h) firearms, lights or other electrical devices or poison, including stunning, disabling, catching or killing fish, or in any way rendering fish to be caught more easily.

4. (1) The Inshore Exclusion Zone referred to in subsection (1) of section 18 of the Act consists of all waters seawards of the low-water line along the coast of Sierra Leone to the line connecting the following coordinates of latitude and longitude as set out in the First Schedule. (2) An industrial fishing vessel, decked semi-industrial fishing vessel or canoe operating with a canoe support vessel shall not engage in fishing in the inshore exclusion zone.

9. (1) A person shall not engage in fishing for - (a) sea turtles; (b) immature rays or immature sharks, and where a sea turtle or immature ray or immature shark is caught as by-catch or in any other circumstances, it shall be immediately released and not be harmed, destroyed, killed or kept for any reason. ... (3) A person shall not in the fishery waters or on a Sierra Leone vessel in any place within or beyond national jurisdiction, remove any part from the body of a shark or a ray, including the fins.

11. (1) A valid and applicable licence issued by the Director under paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 5 of the Act shall be required for - (a) fishing or related activities in the fishery waters, including - (i) using an industrial fishing vessel; (ii) using a semi-industrial fishing vessel; (iii) using an artisanal fishing vessel; (iv) using any vessel for recreational fishing or related activities; (v) using any vessel for marine scientific research or test fishing; ...