FISHERY REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 425.01

FISHERY REGULATIONS

25th May, 1934;

23rd April, 1935

GOVERNMENT NOTICE 206 of 1934, as amended by Legal Notices 48

of 1962, 19 of 1964, 80 of 1978, 58 of 1979 and 154 of 1993; and

GOVERNMENT NOTICE 148 of 1935, as amended by Government Notice

481 of 1936 and Notice dated 23.02.1937, consolidated, and as amended

by Legal Notice 407 of 2013, 157 of 2017, 76 of 2024 and 296 of 2025.

The title of these Regulations is the Fishery Regulations.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires

"Act" means the Fisheries Conservation and Management

Act;

"Director" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in

the Act.

Subject to the provisions of regulations 10 and 11, the use

of the following fishing implements and methods is permitted

without any licence at all times and in all localities

(i)

all methods of hook and line fishing, including

jigging with gulpara and ħ iel;

(ii) the fish spear or grains;

(iii) the basket traps called drajna, nassi tal-gran ċ ,

nassi tal-qarnit, and nassi tal-imrejjen;

(iv) the small hand nets called kopp tal-gambli, kopp

tal-wi ċċ , kopp tal-la ċċ i, and kopp tal-lhud;

(v) all other minor and recognised fishing

implements not otherwise specified in these

Regulations, such as delfinara, gan ċ , or gaffa.

The use of any fishing implement which is not mentioned

in regulation 2 is subject to a licence from the Director of Fisheries.

(Revoked by Legal Notice 407 of 2013).

Unless provided for in these Regulations, the locality in

which, and the period during which, the implement may be used

shall be specified on the licence.

The Director may grant for scientific purposes a licence for

the use of any implement in any locality except those localities

indicated in regulation 12.

The Director may grant, for the purposes of restocking

fishponds, special permits to owners of fishponds to fish within

prohibited areas, other than those indicated in regulations 11 and

12, for a specified number of times in a year under such conditions

as may from time to time be imposed.

It shall be lawful for the Director to grant or withdraw

without compensation any licence, to order modifications in any

implement or to prohibit its use, and to make any change in the

demarcations of closed areas and in the periods established for the

use of any implement.

Licences under these Regulations shall be personal and

shall be valid up to the 31st December and renewable on the 1st

January.

The number of licences to be issued for each kind of

implement shall be left to the discretion of the Director.

Fishing is strictly prohibited in the proximity of the sewage

outfall at Wied G ħ ammieq within the area demarcated on the land

side by two stone pillars painted red situated on the sides of the

drainage outlet, one on Xg ħ ajra shore in the vicinity of Ras il- Ġebel

and the other under the Ricasoli Bastion and on the sea side by two

range buoys. It is also prohibited to collect by any means from the

same area any edible marine products.

No fishing shall be permitted in the Dockyard Creek or in

the French Creek, that is in those parts of the Grand Harbour to the

south east of a line drawn from St.Angelo Point to Isola Point and

thence to the northern end of Parlatorio Wharf and Corradino Hill

without a special licence issued by the Director with the approval

of the Prime Minister.

Persons carrying in their boats any fishing implement shall

be deemed, for the purposes of these Regulations, to have used

such implements.

It shall not be lawful for any steam or motor propelled

vessel or trawler, as well as for sailing vessels, to shoot or tow any

kind of nets within the territorial waters of these Islands; neither

may the method of towing a trawl between two power driven

vessels (paranze) be practised within the said territorial waters.

It shall not be lawful to keep or use a seine net without a

licence for its use. No mesh of this implement shall be less than

eight point five millimetres long each side knot to knot, even when

the net is wet and its weights shall not be so heavy as to cause the

sinking of the floats.

In all bays and creeks, the limit of the area within which

the use of the seine net shall be lawful will be outwards of a line

drawn between two stone pillars placed on opposite sides of such

bays and creeks.

The use of the seine net shall not be permitted in any

locality when the waters are turbid.

Licences for the use of the seine net shall be forfeited upon

a second conviction for contraventions of the provisions governing

the use of the implement.

The Director may grant special permits for stated periods

for the use of the seine net within the prohibited areas for the

purpose of catching migratory fish, provided no mesh of the net is

less than twenty-five point five millimetres square.

It shall not be lawful to keep or use a shrimp dredge

without a licence for its use. The net of this implement shall have

no meshes less than six point five millimetres square, even when

wet, and shall in no case be longer than three point one metres,

whilst the iron bar at its mouth shall not exceed one point five

metres in length and the weight of the implement shall not be

greater than that of a sample dredge kept at the office of the

Director.

The use of the shrimp dredge shall only be permitted -

(a) from the 1st November to the 31st January; and

(b) outside those localities where the use of the seine net

is prohibited.

It shall not be lawful to keep or use a long pole net without

a licence for its use. The net of this implement shall have no

meshes less than six point five millimetres square. This implement

shall be subject generally to the conditions laid down for the

shrimp dredge.

The use of the cast net shall not be permitted inside bays

and harbours and none of its meshes shall be less than twenty-five

point five millimetres square.

Trammels and gilling nets are not allowed to be used from

the 15th February to the 15th July in those localities where the use

of the seine net is prohibited. In the Grand and Marsamxett

harbours, the use of these implements is prohibited at all times

within the prohibited areas above mentioned.

The Director may grant special permits for the use of

trammels and gilling nets within the prohibited areas in case of the

appearance of shoals of mature anchovies, sardines, mackerel,

bonitos or any other pelagic fish. The permit shall specify the exact

type of the net to be used for this purpose.

The fishing positions used in the kannizzati fishery shall be

allocated each year by lot under such conditions as the Director

may deem fit to impose and it shall not be lawful to lay any floats

for this method of fishing without a licence.

Notwithstanding the provision of regulation 9 of these

Regulations, the licence referred to in regulation 26 shall be

effective for the period beginning on the 1st August of the year of

issue and ending on the 31st January immediately following such

year, during which period no person other than the licensee shall be

allowed to fish within a radius of one hundred and eighty metres

from the floats of his own kannizzati.

It shall be lawful for the Director to limit the issue of

licences referred to in regulation 26 to bona fide fishermen only.

Permission may be granted for laying tunny nets round the

coasts of these Islands under such conditions as the Director may

deem fit to impose. The Director may also direct that no other kind

of fishing shall be allowed in the locality where a tunny net is set.

At each end of the seaward extremity of any tunny net,

there shall be moored a nun buoy of such size that its diameter at

the water line is not less than one metre and the vertical height from

its apex to the water line is one point five metres. Such buoy is to

be surmounted by a cage or ball three hundred millimetres in

diameter fitted on a staff, the vertical height from the top of the

cage or ball to the water line to be not less than two point seven

five metres.

By night there shall be moored at the seaward shoot of

every tunny net a boat showing in a vertical line one over the other

one metre apart two bright lights so fixed that the upper light shall

be not less than three point one metres from the water line and of

such a character as to be visible on a dark night with a clear

atmosphere all round the horizon at a distance of not less than two

nautical miles.

Subject to a licence from the Director, the following sites

are available for the laying of tunny nets

(a)

Mellie ħ a;

(b)

Ċ irkewwa and Id-Delli; and

(c)

G ħajn Tuffie ħ a and Ġnejna.

Should anyone propose to lay a tunny net in any other

locality, an application to that effect should be made to the Director

who will decide as to whether the site may conveniently be leased

for the purpose.

The Director is empowered to grant licences to fish on

reserved sites (irmi ġġ i).

Such licences may only be granted for sites within areas

where the use of the seine net is prohibited and shall be valid up to

the end of the year during which they are issued.

Applications for licences to fish on reserved sites shall be

accompanied by a plan showing the site applied for and forwarded

to the Director, who will decide as to whether the site applied for

may conveniently be leased for the purpose.

It shall not be lawful for persons other than the relative

licensee to fish within a radius of eighteen metres from the floats of

any licensed ormeggio.

The use of basket traps other than those mentioned in

regulation 2 shall not be permitted within bays and harbours if the

size of any of the meshes is less than twenty-five point five

millimetres wide.

It shall not be lawful to sell or buy or be on land in

possession of any fishes or cephalopods of a size less than is

prescribed in regulation 38, with the exception of transparent goby

(makku) and of whitebait (srajdna and nemusa), for which no size

limit is prescribed.

The minimum sizes of fishes, measured overall, shall be

according to the following schedule

Minimum Size

Voparella and Vopa (Box boops) ..................... 90 millimetres

Arżnella and Munqara (Smaris vulgaris) ......... 90 millimetres

Trilja or Red Mullets (Mullus barbatus and

Mullus sarmuletus) including Triljetta ........ 100 millimetres

All other fishes except those mentioned in

regulation 37 .............................................. 115 millimetres

Cephalopods, measured from the anterior side

of the eye to the posterior end of the body

Cuttlefish (si ċċ ) ....................................... 75 millimetres

Squid (klamari) ....................................... 100 millimetres

It shall not be lawful to keep or use the implement known

as " ħ an ż ir" without a licence for its use.

It shall not be lawful to keep or use the implement known

as ħġieġa without a licence for its use.

It shall not be lawful to dredge for molluscs except in such

sections of the Valletta harbours as will be indicated for specified

per i od s by th e Di r e c t or, n or to us e f o r su c h d r e dg i ng s a ny

implements except those of a type as established by the same

Director.

It shall not be lawful to land or expose for sale or otherwise

be on land in possession of any bivalves, except stone borers

(tamar), which shall be less than the gauge established for each

species by the Director.

All fishers and sellers of molluscs shall be provided with

the necessary gauges bearing the government mark.

The type of gauges mentioned in the preceding two

regulations shall be in accordance with the specimen kept at the

office of the Police at the Custom House, Valletta, and such species

of bivalves landed or exposed for sale shall not be less than the size

limit shown on the gauge and marked respectively 1, 2, 3 and 4, as

hereunder specified, namely

No.

Ostrea lamellosa (ko ċċ li)

Venus verrucosa (gandoffli)

Dosinia exoleta (dajni)

Tapes decussatus (arzelli nigri)

Cardium rusticum (arzell tal-Marsa)

Tapes aureus (arzell trapanis)

Cardita sulcata (lew ż )

Cardiun paucicostatum (lew ż tal-qoxra rqiqa)

Psanmobia vespartina (imxat)

Mytilus galloprovincialis (maskli)

The use of the grappler (imqass) for the use of raising

bivalves will only be permitted under the same conditions as are

imposed for the use of the dredge for molluscs.

Repealed by Legal Notice 157 of 2017.

Fishing for sponges shall only be allowed under such

conditions as the Director may deem fit to impose and no

operations may be conducted without a licence.

Repealed by Legal Notice 296 of 2025.

No fish may be brought ashore except at specified landing

places notified as such by the Director.

(1) The use of the fishing gear known as imrejkba shall be

subject to this regulation and the following requirements

(a)

the imrejkba is a fishing gear that may only be

used according to a valid licence issued by the Director;

(b)

an imrejkba licence may authorise fishing with a

maximum of forty (40) hooks in those areas intended for the

fishing of pelagic fish and, or up to a maximum of eighty (80)

hooks in those areas intended for the fishing of demersal fish;

(c)

the imrejkba may only be lowered at sea from the

coast by a natural person on land and only for fishing in those

areas identified in the licence by the Director;

(d)

when the imrejkba is lowered at sea it shall not

occupy a space larger than two metres square and this shall be

the maximum dimension for which a licence may be issued;

(e)

an imrejkba lowered at sea shall not, except in

cases of force majeure, be or be left more than two hundred and

fifty metres away from the coast;

(f)

without prejudice to other laws, the holder of a

licence shall at all times be responsible according to law for any

damage caused to persons or their things at sea, unless he

proves that said damage was caused without his fault; and

(g)

the use of the imrejkba shall be subject to the laws

and notices on navigation and maritime activities as issued by

all the competent authorities.

(2)

A licence for the use of the imrejkba may be valid for the

whole year or for such periods as the Director may prescribe in the

licence.

(3)

The imrejkba may only be authorised for recreational

fishing and fish caught with it may only be held for consumption by

the family members of the licence holder up to the second degree. In

the eventuality that it is not the case, the catch or excess thereof shall

be immediately released into the sea and any marketing of fish caught

by the imrejkba shall be prohibited at all times.

(4)

The licence holder for the use of the imrejkba shall at all

times be responsible for compliance with this regulation and all

applicable laws.

(5)

An imrejkba licensed according to this regulation shall at

all times

(a)

be of a triangular structure and made from

wooden or plastic pipes held together with wooden or plastic

bottles which lie on materials that float on the surface of the

sea;

(b)

have a sail fixed to its centre acting as its only

method of propulsion at sea;

(c)

have a bright coloured sail;

(d)

have a flickering light at all times when lowered at

sea; and

(e)

the sail shall be marked with the registration

number indicated on the licence in a manner which is readable

and recognisable.

(6) Every holder of a licence issued accordance with this

regulation shall hold a fishing logbook as may be ordered by the

Director and he shall record his activities therein for each day, or part

thereof, in which he used the imrejkba for fishing in accordance with

this regulation.

It shall not be lawful to use, for fishing purposes, poisons

or any other substance which acts as poison on fish; and it shall not

be lawful knowingly to collect from the sea or to expose for sale, or

otherwise to be in possession of, any fish killed or caught by means

of explosives or poisons or by any substance which acts as poison

on fish.

Besides the punishments established by the Criminal Code

for contraventions, any person who, not being guilty of a more

serious offence, contravenes the prohibition laid down in the

regulation 50, shall, on conviction, have his fish confiscated.