Faroe Islands
Europe · Northern Europe
Recreational spearfishing (underwater hunting) is practised and not prohibited in the Faroe Islands. There is no spearfishing-specific Faroese statute found in public sources; activity falls under the general framework for living marine resources (Act on Management of the Marine Resources, no. 161/2017) and the general rules for recreational/coastal sea fishing. Coastal and shore sea fishing is generally permitted without a permit, but local exceptions may apply. A commercial spearfishing operator (Spearfishing.fo, Tórshavn) operates legally, and the national tourism board promotes diving and spearfishing. Two general rules clearly apply to all recreational fishing: fish under 30 cm may not be kept (catch-and-release), and any fish caught must be consumed within the Faroe Islands (it may not be taken/exported home). No explicit spearfishing licensing, gear or catch-limit regime specific to underwater hunting was located, so confidence is low; divers should confirm local exceptions and protected-area boundaries before diving.
Sist oppdatert Juni 15, 2026
Styrende rammeverk
- §Act on Management of the Marine Resources (Løgtingslóg um at umsita livandi tilfeingi), no. 161/2017, in force 1 January 2018 (parts from 1 January 2020)
- §General recreational/coastal sea-fishing rules as published by Visit Faroe Islands (national tourism board) and the Faroese Fishing Association
- Lisens påkrevd
- Ikke påkrevd
- Spydgevær
- Tillatt
- Utlendinger
- Velkommen
Loven, ordrett
Lovtekster
De eksakte lovfestede og regulatoriske bestemmelsene som gjelder for spearfishing her, sitert slik de er publisert, med lenke til hver offisiell kilde.
Minimum size and catch-and-release rule for recreational fishing
Recreational fishing rules (Faroe Islands)
it is not permitted to take any kind of fish under 30cm, and in this case, 'catch and release' is to be practised.
Catch must be consumed in the Faroe Islands; equipment disinfection
Recreational saltwater fishing rules (Faroe Islands)
Any fish caught must be consumed in the Faroe Islands. ... All equipment, including rods, reels, rubber waders, or lures, must be disinfected to kill fish pathogens [before arrival]. ... Coastal fishing is generally permitted, but please enquire about local exceptions.
Property of marine resources (governing fisheries reform)
Act on Management of the Marine Resources, no. 161/2017
All living marine resources in Faroese waters and those to which the Faroe Islands have rights are the property of the people of the Faroe Islands; they may never become private property and they may not be traded privately.
Når du kan dykke
Sesonger og tidsbegrensninger
Lukkede, åpne og begrensede perioder gjennom året. Bekreft alltid artsspesifikke lukkinger lokalt.
Ingen sesongstenging registrert — verifiser lokalt før du dykker.
Tillatelse til å fiske
Lisens
Hva du trenger for å ha lov til å dykke, hva det koster, og hvordan du skaffer det.
- Type
- No permit required for recreational coastal/shore saltwater fishing (no spearfishing-specific license located). Freshwater angling requires a permit purchased locally.
- Kostnad
- unknown
- Gyldighet
- unknown
- Hvordan du får det
- For coastal sea fishing no permit is needed. For specific freshwater lakes leased by the Faroese Fishing Association (Leynavatn, Mjóuvøtn, Saksunarvatn) a fishing licence must be purchased locally; some lakes/rivers are privately owned and require the owner's permission.
- Myndighet
- Faroese Fishing Association (freshwater); Ministry of Fisheries / Vörn (sea fisheries)
Utstyr og teknikk
Utstyrsregler
Hvilket utstyr som er tillatt, hvordan det kan brukes, og hvilke betingelser som gjelder.
Begrensninger
- All fishing/diving equipment (rods, reels, rubber waders, lures, and by extension wetsuits/gear) must be cleaned and disinfected before arrival in the Faroe Islands to prevent the spread of fish diseases; no veterinary certificate is required.
- No spearfishing-specific equipment rules (e.g. speargun type, scuba-while-spearfishing) were located in public Faroese sources.
Spearfishing with a speargun is practised by local and commercial operators (e.g. Spearfishing.fo, Tórshavn); no statutory prohibition on spearguns was found. Whether scuba-assisted spearfishing is permitted is unknown from available sources.
Hva du kan ta
Fangstbegrensninger og vernede arter
Daglige kvoter, minimumsstørrelser og arter som aldri må tas.
Daglig grense
unknown
General recreational rule: no fish under 30 cm may be kept (catch-and-release below this size). Anglers/divers are encouraged to catch only what they intend to eat. No spearfishing-specific bag or per-species size limits were located. Salmon, sea trout and other anadromous species are managed separately under freshwater/fishing-association rules and conservation measures.
Hvem kan fiske
Besøkende og innbyggere
Hvordan reglene er forskjellige for utenlandske besøkende og lokale innbyggere.
Utenlandske besøkende
TillattKrav
- Disinfect all fishing/diving equipment before arrival.
- Consume any catch within the Faroe Islands; catch may not be taken/exported out of the country.
- Obtain a local permit for freshwater angling where required.
Begrensninger
- Fish under 30 cm must be released.
Tourists may take part in recreational sea fishing and spearfishing; the national tourism board markets diving and spearfishing experiences to visitors. No foreigner-specific spearfishing licence was identified.
Innbyggere
Same general recreational sea-fishing rules apply; no spearfishing-specific resident licence located.
unknown
Hvor langs kysten
Tillatte og forbudte soner
Navngitte områder som er åpne eller lukkede for spearfishing. Se hele bildet på det interaktive kartet.
Forbudte områder
- Nólsoy Ramsar Site (seabird reserve, incl. surrounding sea)marine reserve / Ramsar wetland of international importance
Ramsar site no. 2052 (designated 31 May 2012), covering Nólsoy island and its surrounding sea. Internationally important breeding/feeding habitat for European storm-petrel (~50,000 pairs). A marine buffer applies: from 15 April to 31 August boats may not exceed 8 knots within 500 m of land and unnecessary noise / jet-skis are prohibited. Not a spearfishing-specific ban, but a legally delimited bird-protection area with a marine component; divers should treat the 500m breeding-season zone as restricted. Area ~2,197 ha.
- Mykines Ramsar Site (seabird reserve, incl. surrounding sea)marine reserve / Ramsar wetland of international importance
Ramsar site no. 2051 (designated 31 May 2012), ~2,300 ha, comprising Mykines/Mykineshólmur grassy slopes, sea cliffs and the surrounding sea. Breeding/feeding habitat for an estimated 250,000 pairs of seabirds of 15 species (incl. the Faroes' largest Atlantic puffin colony). Marine buffer: 15 April–31 August boats limited to 8 knots within 500 m of land; jet-skis and unnecessary noise prohibited. Bird-protection MPA with a marine component, not an explicit spearfishing ban; the 500m breeding-season zone should be treated as restricted by divers.
- Skúvoy Ramsar Site (seabird reserve, incl. surrounding sea)marine reserve / Ramsar wetland of international importance / Important Bird Area
Ramsar site no. 2053 (designated 31 May 2012), ~1,790 ha, comprising Skúvoy grassy slopes, coastal sea cliffs and surrounding waters; a BirdLife International Important Bird and Biodiversity Area with up to 280,000 pairs of breeding seabirds. Marine buffer: from 15 April to 31 August boats limited to 8 knots within 500 m of land, jet-skis and unnecessary noise prohibited. Legally delimited bird-protection area with a marine component (not a spearfishing-specific ban); the 500m breeding-season zone should be treated as restricted by divers.
Betingelser på vannet
Sanntidsbetingelser
Sanntids marin- og væroversikt nær et kystnært referansepunkt i Faroe Islands, fra Open-Meteo. Betingelsene varierer langs kysten — behandle dette som veiledende.
Live marin- og værdata nær Nólsoy Ramsar Site (seabird reserve, incl. surrounding sea).
Hvem du skal spørre
Myndigheter
De offisielle organene ansvarlige for fiskeri og lisensiering.
Ministry of Fisheries (Fiskimálaráðið)
fisheries ministry
Vörn (Faroese Fisheries Inspection / Fisheries Authority)
fisheries authority
Visit Faroe Islands (national tourism board)
tourism authority
Faroese Fishing Association (freshwater angling permits)
angling association
Hvor dette kommer fra
Kilder
Hvert påstand på denne siden kan spores tilbake til en av disse referansene.
- [01]
Diving in the Faroe Islands - Visit Faroe Islands (national tourism board)
Offisiellvisitfaroeislands.comÅpnet Jun 15 - [02]
Saltwater fishing in the Faroe Islands - Visit Faroe Islands
Offisiellvisitfaroeislands.comÅpnet Jun 15 - [03]
Freshwater angling in the Faroe Islands - Visit Faroe Islands
Offisiellvisitfaroeislands.comÅpnet Jun 15 - [04]
Sports Fishing in Faroe Islands (30 cm minimum size rule; permitted lakes) - Guide to Faroe Islands
Sekundærguidetofaroeislands.foÅpnet Jun 15 - [05]
Faroe Islands - Fishery Legislation and Administration (Act on Marine Resources, Ministry of Fisheries) - Faroese Seafood
Offisiellfaroeseseafood.comÅpnet Jun 15 - [06]
The Faroese Fishery Reform of 2018 (Act on Management of the Marine Resources no. 161/2017) - Faroese Seafood
Offisiellfaroeseseafood.comÅpnet Jun 15 - [07]
Oceans, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs - The Government of the Faroe Islands
Offisiellgovernment.foÅpnet Jun 15 - [08]
Spearfishing.fo - commercial spearfishing operator (Tórshavn)
communityspearfishing.foÅpnet Jun 15
Forskernotater
The Faroe Islands is a self-governing nation within the Kingdom of Denmark with its own fisheries legislation, distinct from Denmark and the EU (it is outside the EU). No spearfishing-specific Faroese law, marine-protected-area diving ban, season, or catch-limit document was retrievable from public sources, so data_confidence is set to low. What is firmly established from official/secondary sources: (1) recreational coastal sea fishing is generally allowed without a permit; (2) spearfishing is practised and not prohibited (active commercial operator + tourism-board promotion); (3) no fish under 30 cm may be kept (catch-and-release); (4) any catch must be consumed within the Faroe Islands and may not be exported; (5) all equipment must be disinfected before arrival; (6) freshwater angling requires a local permit (named association lakes: Leynavatn, Mjóuvøtn, Saksunarvatn). The umbrella legal framework is the Act on Management of the Marine Resources (no. 161/2017), administered by the Ministry of Fisheries with enforcement by Vörn. The full verbatim Faroese statutory text was not retrieved; law_texts entries are precise English excerpts from the cited pages, with the marine-resources property clause marked translated=true. Coordinates for protected/prohibited diving zones were not found and are intentionally omitted rather than guessed. Divers should verify local exceptions and any site-specific nature-reserve or seabird-protection restrictions before spearfishing.
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