Marshall Islands

§214. Fishing with poisons or explosives. (1) No person shall: (a) use, permit to be used or attempt to use any: (i) chemical, poison or noxious substance or material whether of manufactured or natural origin; (ii) dynamite or explosive substance or device, for the purpose of killing, taking, stunning, stupefying or disabling fish or in any way rendering fish more easily caught; (b) carry, permit to be carried, possess or control any: (i) chemical, poison or noxious substance or material whether of manufactured or natural origin; (ii) dynamite or explosive substance or device, in circumstances which indicate the intention of its use for any of the purposes referred to in paragraph (a); (c) place in the water or assist in placing in the water any: (i) chemical, poison or noxious substance or material whether of manufactured or natural origin; (ii) dynamite, or any explosive substance or device, for any of the purposes referred to in paragraph (a). (2) No person shall: (a) land, display for sale, sell, deal in, transport, receive or possess any fish or fish product taken by any means which contravenes this Section ... (3) For the purposes of this Section, the terms “poisonous”, “chemicals” and “substance” include but are not limited to hypocholorus acid or any of its salts, including bleaches commonly sold under various trade names such as Clorox and Purex, and bleaching powders, preparations containing ratenone, tephrosin or plant material from Barrington asiatica, coculusferrandianus, hura crepitans, piscidia erythrina, tephrosia purpurea and wikstremia.

§215. Limitations on taking turtles. (1) No hawksbill turtles or sea turtles shall be taken or intentionally killed while on shore, nor shall their eggs be taken. (2) No hawksbill turtle shall be taken or killed except for subsistence fishing and where its shell is at least twenty-seven inches when measured over the top of the carapace shell lengthwise. (3) No green turtle shall be taken or killed except for subsistence fishing and where its shell is at least thirty-four inches when measured over the top of the carapace shell lengthwise. (4) Notwithstanding any provisions of this Section, the taking of sea turtles and their eggs shall be allowed for scientific purposes when specifically authorized by the Authority. (5) No person shall buy, sell, display for sale, offer for sale or otherwise market any turtle or turtle product.

§209. Protection of certain species. (1) The Minister may, by proclamation, declare any fish as protected which are designated as endangered by international agreement on advice from the Director. (2) The Authority may make regulations regarding the management of the species protected under this Section.

§229. Prohibition of Commercial Shark Fishing. Commercial shark fishing is hereby prohibited as a target fishery in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Fisheries waters. [new part and section inserted by P.L. 2011-63]

§230. Prohibition of taking of sharks, possession, sale and trade. (1) No person shall catch, capture or intentionally engage in fishing for shark or any part thereof or intentionally remove the fins or tail of any shark or otherwise mutilate or injure any shark within the land or fisheries waters of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1): (a) any person who holds a license or permit from the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority to conduct research on sharks ... shall not be subject to the penalties in this section; (b) fishing for shark for subsistence use is permitted provided that no person shall harvest shark that has been declared as protected species ... (3) Any shark that is inadvertently caught or captured, subject to subsection (2), shall be immediately released, whether the shark is dead or alive. No shark shall be retained even if caught as bycatch.

(52) ‘recreational fishing’ means non commercial fishing for leisure or relaxation and may include sport fishing; ... (60) ‘subsistence fishing’ means fishing by a citizen substantially for personal consumption, and does not include any fishing resulting or intending or appearing to result, directly or indirectly, in selling or [trading].