British Virgin Islands
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Spearfishing is prohibited in the British Virgin Islands. Under section 50(1) of the Virgin Islands Fisheries Act, 1997 (No. 4 of 1997), no person may use a speargun, SCUBA diving equipment, explosive, poison or other noxious substance for fishing in the fishery waters. It is illegal to even use or carry on board a fishing vessel any spear gun or SCUBA equipment for fishing or harvesting marine products. According to the official Government of the Virgin Islands notice, where such prohibited gear is found on a vessel a presumption arises (under s.50(2)) that the persons intended to fish in the fishery waters unless the contrary is proved; the same notice states the offence carries a maximum fine of USD 15,000 on summary conviction (attributed to s.63(a)). The exact statutory wording of s.50(2) and s.63 could not be verified against the consolidated Act (the 1997 Act is not yet published on the official Virgin Islands Laws Online portal and is not on FAOLEX), so those provisions are described from the official notice rather than quoted verbatim. The prohibition applies to residents, foreigners and tourists with no recreational exception, and spearguns/Hawaiian slings may be confiscated by Customs on arrival. The Food Security and Sustainability Act, 2022 contemplates allowing spearfishing, but as of February 2025 it had not been brought into force by notice in the Gazette and the supporting regulations remained in drafting, so spearfishing remained illegal under the 1997 Act and the 2003 Fisheries Regulations.
අවසන් යාවත්කාලීනය පෙබරවාරි 1, 2025
ආදේශ රාමුව
- §Fisheries Act, 1997 (No. 4 of 1997)
- §Fisheries Regulations, 2003
- §Fisheries (Fishing Priority Areas and Protected Areas) Order, 2011 (Statutory Instrument 2011 No. 69)
- §Fisheries (Protected Species) Order, 2014 (Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 28)
- §Food Security and Sustainability Act, 2022 (assented but not yet in force as of 2025)
- බලපත්රය අවශ්යයි
- අවශ්යයි
- හාල්මැස්සා තුවක්කුව
- තහනම්
- ස්කූබා
- තහනම්
- විදේශිකයන්
- අනුමත නැත
- උපරිම හාල්මැස්සා
- 0
නීතිය, වචනානුසාරයෙන්
නෛතික පාඨ
ක්රීඩා ධීවරය මෙහිදී ආයත්ත කරන නිශ්චිත ව්යවස්ථාපිත සහ නියාමන විධිවිධාන, ප්රකාශිත ලෙස උධෘත කරන ලද, සෑම නිල මූලාශ්රයකටම සබැඳියකින්.
Prohibited fishing methods - spearguns and SCUBA (Fisheries Act 1997 s.50(1), as quoted in the official Government of the Virgin Islands notice)
Virgin Islands Fisheries Act, 1997 (No. 4 of 1997)
Subject to section 35 (2), no person shall use any speargun, self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) diving equipment, explosive, poison or other noxious substance for fishing in the fishery waters.
Prohibited fishing methods (recreational fishing guide)
Conservation and Fisheries Department - Guide to Recreational (Pleasure and Sport) Fishing
In the BVI it is illegal to use or carry onboard a fishing vessel any spear gun, self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) diving equipment, explosive, poison or other noxious substances for fishing or harvesting of marine products in the fishery waters. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There is a maximum fine of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15 000.00) for this violation.
Fishing prohibited in protected areas
Fisheries (Fishing Priority Areas and Protected Areas) Order, 2011 (Statutory Instrument 2011 No. 69), made under section 13(1)(a) and (b) of the Fisheries Act, 1997 (No. 4 of 1997)
No person shall engage in the fishing of any fish in the protected area otherwise than under the authority, and in accordance with the terms and conditions, of a licence issued under the Fisheries Act, 1997.
Prohibition of fishing for sharks
Fisheries (Protected Species) Order, 2014 (Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 28), made under section 14(1) of the Fisheries Act 1997
No person shall (a) remove from the fishery waters or intentionally engage in the fishing for sharks or any of their parts; (b) intentionally remove the fins, tail or mutilate any shark; (c) sell, purchase or have in his or her possession any shark, shark parts or shark products; (d) export or import any shark, shark parts or shark products; (e) feed, attempt to feed, provide or use food to attract any shark in the fishery waters.
Prohibition of fishing for rays
Fisheries (Protected Species) Order, 2014 (Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 28), made under section 14(1) of the Fisheries Act 1997
No person shall (a) remove from the fishery waters or intentionally engage in the fishing for rays or any of their parts; (b) intentionally mutilate any ray; (c) sell, purchase or have in his or her possession any ray, ray parts or ray products; (d) export or import any ray, ray parts or ray products; (e) feed, attempt to feed, provide or use food to attract any ray in the fishery waters.
Offence and penalty for taking protected species (sharks/rays)
Fisheries (Protected Species) Order, 2014 (Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 28)
Any person who contravenes sections 2 or 3 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.
ඔබට ගිලෙන්න හැකි විට
සෘතු සහ කාල සීමා
වර්ෂය පුරා වසා ඇති, විවෘත සහ සීමිත කාලසීමා. සෑම විටම දේශීයව ජාතිය-විශේෂ වසා ඇති ස්ථාන තහවුරු කරන්න.
- වසා ඇතMargateජන 1 – මාර් 31
Closed season for Margate (Jan 1 - Mar 31).
- වසා ඇතRed Hindජන 1 – මාර් 31
Closed season for Red Hind (Jan 1 - Mar 31).
- වසා ඇතNassau Grouperමාර් 1 – මැයි 31
Closed season for Nassau Grouper (Mar 1 - May 31).
- වසා ඇතLobsterජූලි 31 – ඔක් 31
Closed season for Lobster, printed verbatim as 'Jul 31 - Oct 31' in the official Conservation and Fisheries Department recreational fishing guide. The single-day-late July 31 start is reproduced exactly as published (it likely reflects a closure running effectively from end of July through October).
- වසා ඇතConchඅගෝ 15 – ඔක් 31
Closed season for Conch (Aug 15 - Oct 31).
- වසා ඇතWhelkඅගෝ 15 – ඔක් 31
Closed season for Whelk (Aug 15 - Oct 31).
- වසා ඇතHawksbill Turtle and Green Turtleඅප්රේ 1 – නොවැ 30
Closed season for Hawksbill Turtle and Green Turtle (Apr 1 - Nov 30).
ධීවරයට අවසර
බලපත්රය
ජලය තුළ ඉඩ ලැබීමට ඔබට අවශ්ය දේ, ඒ සඳහා වැය වන්නේ කීයද, සහ ලබා ගන්නේ කෙසේද.
Application forms requested and returned by fax (1-284-468-2781) or email (cfd@gov.vg), accompanied by a copy of a valid photo ID (passport or driver's licence). Processed by the Conservation and Fisheries Department, Road Town, Tortola. Tel: 1-284-468-2700.
ඔබේ බලපත්රය ලබා ගන්නනිල ද්වාරය විවෘත කරයි · bvi.gov.vg
- වර්ගය
- Certificate of Registration and Fishery Licence (recreational pleasure fishing); a temporary pleasure fishing licence valid for one month is available. Note: licences cover rod/hand-line angling only - spearfishing is prohibited and no spearfishing licence exists.
- වියදම
- Temporary pleasure fishing licence approximately USD 45.00 (valid one month)
- වලංගු කාලය
- Temporary pleasure fishing licence valid for one month
- ලබා ගන්නේ කෙසේද
- Application forms requested and returned by fax (1-284-468-2781) or email (cfd@gov.vg), accompanied by a copy of a valid photo ID (passport or driver's licence). Processed by the Conservation and Fisheries Department, Road Town, Tortola. Tel: 1-284-468-2700.
- අධිකාරිය
- Conservation and Fisheries Department (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries), Government of the British Virgin Islands
ගියර් සහ තාක්ෂණය
උපකරණ නීති
කුමන ගියර් අනුමතද, එය භාවිතා කළ හැකි ආකාරය, සහ ඊට ඇති කොන්දේසි.
සීමාවන්
- Spearguns are prohibited for fishing/harvesting marine products in the fishery waters (Fisheries Act 1997 s.50(1)).
- SCUBA diving equipment may not be used for fishing or harvesting marine products.
- Explosives, poison and other noxious substances are prohibited for fishing.
- It is illegal to even carry a spear gun or SCUBA gear onboard a fishing vessel for fishing; possession on a vessel raises a presumption of intent to fish unlawfully (s.50(2)).
- Spearguns and Hawaiian slings may be confiscated by the Customs Department upon arrival in the Territory.
Recreational (pleasure) fishing is limited to rods and hand-lines; sport fishing is catch-and-release for big game such as marlin and sailfish, with release of marlin strongly encouraged.
ඔබ ගත හැකි දේ
අල්ලාගැනීමේ සීමා සහ ආරක්ෂිත ජාතීන්
දෛනික කෝටා, අවම ප්රමාණ, සහ කිසිදා ගත නොහැකි ජාතීන්.
දෛනික සීමාව
Pleasure fishing for personal consumption: maximum retention of 30 lbs of fish per boat.
ආරක්ෂිත ජාතීන් — ගන්න එපා
- ආරක්ෂිතSharks (all species - Fisheries (Protected Species) Order 2014)
- ආරක්ෂිතRays (all species - Fisheries (Protected Species) Order 2014)
- ආරක්ෂිතLeatherback Turtle (moratorium / no take)
- ආරක්ෂිතLoggerhead Turtle (moratorium / no take)
- ආරක්ෂිතJewfish / Goliath Grouper (moratorium / no take)
- ආරක්ෂිතHawksbill Turtle (closed season Apr 1 - Nov 30)
- ආරක්ෂිතGreen Turtle (closed season Apr 1 - Nov 30)
- ආරක්ෂිතNassau Grouper (closed season Mar 1 - May 31)
Moratoriums (NO TAKE) apply to Leatherback Turtles, Loggerhead Turtles and Jewfish (Goliath Grouper). Sharks and rays are fully protected under the Fisheries (Protected Species) Order, 2014 (limited subsistence/scientific exceptions for licensed local fishermen/permit holders). Closed seasons apply to Margate, Red Hind, Nassau Grouper, Lobster, Conch, Whelk and marine turtles. Since spearfishing is prohibited, these limits are relevant to permitted rod/hand-line fishing.
ධීවරය කළ හැකි අය
නරඹුවන් සහ පදිංචිකරුවන්
විදේශ නරඹුවන් සහ දේශීය පදිංචිකරුවන් සඳහා නීති වෙනස් වන ආකාරය.
විදේශ නරඹුවන්
අනුමත නැතඅවශ්යතා
- Foreign vessels engaged in recreational fishing require a Certificate of Registration and Fishery Licence to fish in BVI waters.
සීමාවන්
- Spearfishing is prohibited for everyone, including tourists and foreigners - there is no recreational, tourist or commercial exception.
- Bringing a spear gun or Hawaiian sling into the Territory may result in confiscation by the Customs Department on arrival.
Foreigners may obtain a recreational fishing licence for rod/hand-line angling, but spearfishing is not permitted under any licence.
පදිංචිකරුවන්
Certificate of Registration and Fishery Licence (recreational); separate commercial fisherman registration for licensed local fishermen
අවශ්යතා
- Local vessels engaged in recreational fishing require a Certificate of Registration and Fishery Licence.
ප්රතිලාභ
- Licensed local fishermen have limited subsistence exception for fishing certain non-endangered sharks under the Fisheries (Protected Species) Order 2014.
Spearfishing is prohibited for residents as well; no spearfishing exception currently exists in law.
වෙරළේ කොතැනද
අනුමත සහ තහනම් කලාප
ක්රීඩා ධීවරයට විවෘත හෝ වසා ඇති නම් ආශ්රිත ප්රදේශ. අන්තර්ක්රියාකාරී සිතියමේ සම්පූර්ණ චිත්රය බලන්න.
තහනම් ප්රදේශ
- Horse Shoe Reef, Anegadamarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including mooring of boats, diving, building construction and fishing.
- Beef Island Channelmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Hans Creek, Beef Islandmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- The Sound, Ginger Islandmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Big Reef, Peter Islandmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Green Caymarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- North Bay, Guanamarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Frenchman's Caymarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Taylor Bay, Virgin Gordamarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- South Sound, Virgin Gordamarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- The Sound, Salt Islandmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Money Bay, Norman Islandmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Santa Monica Rockmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Dead Chestmarine protected area
Fisheries Protected Area (Marine Protected Area). ALL human activity (save snorkeling) is prohibited, including fishing.
- Rhone National Marine Park (RMS Rhone, Salt Island to Dead Chest)national marine park
The BVI's first and only national sea park (designated 1980), ~800 acres of marine waters between Salt Island and Dead Chest Island, encompassing the RMS Rhone wreck off Lee Bay, Salt Island. Managed by the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands. National park policies prohibit anchoring, fishing and land access to protect the reefs and habitats; mooring buoys are provided in lieu of anchoring. Spearfishing is in any case banned BVI-wide.
ජලය මත කොන්දේසි
සජීවී කොන්දේසි
British Virgin Islands හිදී Open-Meteo වෙතින් වෙරළ ආසන්න ස්ථානයකට ළඟා සජීවී සමුද්රික සහ කාලගුණ ස්නැප්ශොට්. වෙරළ දිගේ කොන්දේසි වෙනස් වේ — දර්ශකයක් ලෙස සලකන්න.
Horse Shoe Reef, Anegada ආසන්න සජීවී සමුද්රික සහ කාලගුණ.
කාරෙන් අසන්නද
අධිකාරීන්
ධීවර සහ බලපත්ර සඳහා වගකිව යුතු නිල ආයතන.
Conservation and Fisheries Department (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)
fisheries authority
bvi.gov.vgP.O. Box 3323, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Tel: (284) 468-2700; Fax: (284) 468-2781; Email: cfd@gov.vgGovernment of the Virgin Islands - Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour
environment ministry
bvi.gov.vgRoad Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
මෙය කොහෙන් ආවේ
මූලාශ්ර
මෙම පිටුවේ සෑම ප්රකාශයක්ම මෙම ආශ්රිතයන්ගෙන් එකකට ආපසු ලුහුබැඳේ.
- [01]
Speargun Fishing Is Strictly Prohibited - Government of the Virgin Islands (official notice, 25 May 2020)
නිලbvi.gov.vgප්රවේශ කළේ පෙබ 1 - [02]
Guide to Recreational (Pleasure and Sport) Fishing - Conservation and Fisheries Department
නිලbvi.gov.vgප්රවේශ කළේ පෙබ 1 - [03]
Fisheries (Protected Species) Order, 2014 (SI 2014 No. 28) - FAOLEX full text
නිලfaolex.fao.orgප්රවේශ කළේ පෙබ 1 - [04]
Fisheries (Fishing Priority Areas and Protected Areas) Order, 2011 (SI 2011 No. 69) - FAOLEX full text (lists the 14 protected areas and the section 4 fishing prohibition)
නිලfaolex.fao.orgප්රවේශ කළේ ජූනි 16 - [05]
Food Security and Sustainability Act, 2022 - Government of the Virgin Islands
නිලbvi.gov.vgප්රවේශ කළේ පෙබ 1 - [06]
Spearfishing illegal for now, premier says - The BVI Beacon
ද්විතීයිකbvibeacon.comප්රවේශ කළේ පෙබ 1 - [07]
Farming, fishing law is still not enacted - The BVI Beacon
ද්විතීයිකbvibeacon.comප්රවේශ කළේ පෙබ 1 - [08]
Is Spearfishing Allowed in the BVI? - Lancaster Scuba
communitylancasterscuba.comප්රවේශ කළේ පෙබ 1
පර්යේෂක සටහන්
Spearfishing is illegal in the British Virgin Islands. The core prohibition is Fisheries Act 1997 (No. 4 of 1997) s.50(1) (no speargun/SCUBA/explosive/poison for fishing), reinforced by the Fisheries Regulations 2003 and the official Conservation and Fisheries Department recreational fishing guide. The official Government notice attributes the maximum fine of USD 15,000 to s.63(a) and a presumption-of-intent rule to s.50(2); however the consolidated Fisheries Act 1997 could not be retrieved (it is not yet published on the official Virgin Islands Laws Online portal, laws.gov.vg, and is not on FAOLEX), so the verbatim wording of s.50(2) and s.63 could not be confirmed. To avoid presenting paraphrase as statute, the previous s.50(2) and s.63(a) law_texts entries (which were summaries, not quotes) were removed; their substance is retained in the legal_status summary with explicit attribution to the official notice. The Act number (No. 4 of 1997) is corroborated by the Fisheries (Fishing Priority Areas and Protected Areas) Order, 2011 (SI 2011 No. 69), whose verbatim section 4 is now cited from FAOLEX as the in-force legal basis for the protected-area fishing ban; FAOLEX separately mislabels the Act as 'No. 18 of 1997'. The Food Security and Sustainability Act, 2022, which would permit spearfishing (without SCUBA), received the Governor's assent but had NOT been brought into force by Gazette notice as of February 2025, with supporting regulations still in drafting; until commencement, spearfishing remains prohibited. Permitted recreational fishing is rod/hand-line pleasure fishing (30 lbs per boat personal-consumption cap) and catch-and-release sport fishing; both require a licence. 14 Fisheries Protected Areas (MPAs) ban all activity except snorkeling (confirmed against both the recreational guide and the 2011 Order). Only 2 MPAs (Horse Shoe Reef/Anegada area, Dead Chest) carry coordinates, and those are approximate centroids derived from gazetteer data, not from the legal instrument; remaining MPAs lack precise published coordinates and are left without coordinates to avoid fabrication. Confidence is medium: the legal status (prohibited) is well-sourced from official government material, but two penalty/presumption provisions rest on an official press notice's paraphrase rather than the verifiable consolidated statute.
British Virgin Islands හි රීති වෙනස් වන විට දැනුම් දෙන්න
අපගේ දත්ත සේවාවෙහි British Virgin Islands හි කාල සීමා හෝ රෙගුලාසි යාවත්කාලීන වන විට ඔබට ඊමේල් කරමු.