Libya

In this Law, the expression 'exploitation of marine resources' shall mean the exploration, use, preservation, and management of organisms, including sedentary organisms, located in the seabed, overlying waters, and subsoil of marine areas subject to the sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

No natural person or legal entity may explore or use marine resources for commercial purposes except after obtaining a licence for such from the bodies set forth in this Law. Foreign vessels and fishing boats may not explore or use marine resources except pursuant to an agreement to which the Great Jamahiriya is a party and after obtaining a license for such from the General People's Committee for Marine Resources. Fishing shall be prohibited in berths, ports, and the sea lanes leading thereto.

The General People's Committee for Marine Resources may bar fishing in certain areas by deeming them protected areas, whether for scientific or economic purposes, and it may bar the fishing of certain marine organisms in certain areas and at certain times.

Fishing through the use of explosives, poisonous or narcotic substances, materials harmful to public health or the growth or reproduction of marine organisms, or in any other manner that is harmful to marine organisms without distinction shall be prohibited in the areas referred to in Article (1) of this Law. Damage to seaweed and marine plants where marine organisms lay their eggs is also prohibited.

Regulations issued by the General People's Committee for Marine Resources shall also govern the following: The technical requirements that must be met for vessels or boats designed to use marine resources; Specification of the tools and instruments that may be used when using marine resources; Determine mesh capacity, types of nets, and the specifications thereof; Determine the sizes of sponges and fish that may be fished. [This is the statutory hook delegating which fishing tools/instruments are permitted and the minimum legal fish sizes to implementing regulations; spearguns/harpoons are not named in the law itself.]

Anyone who violates Articles (3), (4), (13), and (19) of this Law shall be punishable with imprisonment for a period not less than one month and not more than six months, a fine not less than five hundred LYD and not more than two thousand LYD, or one of these two penalties. [Article 3 = fishing in ports/berths/sea lanes and unlicensed commercial use; Article 4 = fishing inside declared protected areas or in closed areas/seasons.]

Without prejudice to any more severe penalty provided under any other law, anyone who violates Articles (15) of this Law shall be punishable with imprisonment for a period not less than two years and a fine not less than five thousand and not more than ten thousand LYD. In the event of a conviction, the court may rule to confiscate the fishing means, tools, and equipment.

يمنع الصيد بالجرف خلال شهري ناصر وهانيبال [يوليو وأغسطس] في المناطق الواقعة بين خط طول 12-15 درجة حتى آخر نقطة من المياه الخاضعة للسيادة غرباً، والمناطق الواقعة بين خط طول 24 درجة حتى آخر نقطة من المياه الخاضعة للسيادة شرقاً. [Bottom-trawl (drag) fishing is prohibited during the months of Nasser and Hannibal (July and August) in the western sector between longitude 12-15 degrees out to the limit of sovereign waters, and in the eastern sector from longitude 24 degrees out to the limit of sovereign waters. Decision issued 5 July 1993 by the General People's Committee for Marine Resources; the Marine Biology Research Centre and aquaculture project are exempted for scientific/aquaculture purposes (Article 2). Concerns trawl gear, not spearfishing.]

يمنع صيد سمكة اللمبوكة على طول الساحل الليبي خلال الفترة الممتدة من بداية شهر يناير وحتى منتصف شهر أغسطس من كل عام. [Fishing for lampuki/dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) is prohibited along the entire Libyan coast during the period from the beginning of January until mid-August of each year. Article 2 orders confiscation and destruction of any quantities caught; Article 3 makes the decision effective from its date of issue (issued 17 March 2024 by the Minister of Marine Wealth). This is a species closure that applies to all fishing methods, including any underwater/spear capture of lampuki.]