- Sailing Croatia tips
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by Ultra Sailing Team
Diving in Croatia
Croatian underwater hides over 116 documented diving locations which include scenes of ancient sailing ships and coral meadows on verical submerged walls, sea caves and warship wrecks.
Diving in Croatia is regulated by law. According to it, foreign and domestic citizens can go diving on their own or organized by registrated diving centers.
To go diving you need to have a valid diving licence (certificate) from one of the international diving associations (CMAS, PADI, SSI, NAUI, NASDS, YMCA, MDEA, NASE, IDEA IANTD, NSS CDS, ANDI,TDI NACI, PSA, PDIC, SDI, FIAS, ACUC, BSAC, VDST, BARACUDA, IDD, UDI, … and others).
You need to keep in mind that some location of the Croatian Adriatic are completely off limits:
- Parts of inland waters which include ports, ports access points, anchorages and places of dense marine traffic
- Strict and special nature parks and reserves, and other protected parts of sea and underwater
- Areas in vicinity of anchored war ships and guarded military objects on the coast line not closer than 100 meters
- Brioni nad Krka nationals parks
Also, for diving in certain areas (national parks and other zones uner protection of Ministry of culture) you need to have a special permit.
Kornati and Mljet national parks are zones of controlled diving for whihc permits are issued by park administration.
Around islands of Vis, Biševo, Svetac, Brusnik, Sušac, Lastovo, Palagruža, in the sea belt of 300 meters around sunken ships “Szent Istvan”, “Coriola- nus”, “Baron Gautsch”, “S-57”, and at findings in Žirje and Cavtat area you can dive only with a permit from regional offices of Ministry of culture.
Every center that does diving activities must have a written permission from authorities.
Diving supervision is under juristiction of port authorities, maritime police, diving supervisors from Ministries.
For not abiding by rules of diving, fines are up to 15.000 kuna (cca 2000€)!
Guidelines for safe diving
- Never go dving alone
- Always mark you diving location appropriately
- Do not collect „souvenirs“
- Do not touch marine organisms, do not feed them or disturb them in any wayne
- Acknowledge your own limitations and limitations of diving category you have
- Make sure youir equipment is in order and well maintained and serviced ronite
- Make a diving plan which includes time, depth, mimimal air pressure in bottles, diving direction and emergency procedure
- If you come across any dangerous or explosive items, don’t touch them, but notify the police or port authority
- Abide by all laws connected to diving.
Sport and recreational fishing in Croatia
You need a permit to do sport and recreational fishing in Croatia, no matter if it is done from shore or from a boat, and you need to have in on your person at all times.
Allowed quantity of fish that you can catch daily is 5 kg (includes all marine organisms). One fish or another marine organism that is over 5 kg does not go into this limit, so maximum catch then would be 5 kg plus one fish of or over 5 kg.
Catch coming from sport or recreational fishing cannot be sold! Only children under the age of 14 can fish without a permit, but only with one handliner.
Recreational fishing licences
Daily and multiple days (1, 3, 7 or 30 days) licences include following fishing tools:
– two handliners with max three hooks,
– two fishing gears called “kančenica” with max three hooks,
– two trolling rigs with max three hooks,
– two trolling rigs with hook for cephalopods catching
The use of a fishing rod and reel is allowed.
Annual permits also include:
– the two pieces of trident
– two devices for catching large worms
– three fish traps (only with annual permit)
– long-line of one hundred hooks (with the annual one, a special permit for long-line is required)
Annual permits are issued only to Croatian citizens and foreign citizens with permanent residence in the Republic of Croatia.
Tuna, Swordfish and Spearfish Fishing Licenses (and a Big Game):
Fishing for tuna, Swordfish and Spearfish requires a special permit (one-day, three-day or seven-day). These species are protected and catch quotas and hunting grounds have been set for them (from 15 October to 15 June). Fishing of these species takes place according to special regulations, and some of them are:
– it is forbidden to use hooks made of stainless materials
– the fisherman may keep one fish per day
– after the announcement that the annual quota of tuna has been catched, specimens of these
species may no longer be fished and retained
– each tuna catch must be reported to the Ministry within 24 hours on a special Tuna Catch Report Form in recreational fishing
Where to buy permits?
Permits for recreational fishing can be purchased in the regional units of the Ministry of Agriculture and from the sales representative (travel agencies, port authorities), and electronic permits can also be purchased through the Ministry’s website.
Sport fishing licences
Daily and multiple days licences include following fishing tools:
– two handliners with max three hooks,
– two fishing gears called “kančenica” with max three hooks,
– two trolling rigs with max three hooks,
The use of a fishing rod and reel is allowed.
Daily and multi-day permits for sport fishing at sea are valid only with the membership card of the Croatian Association for Sport Fishing at Sea or the association for fishing at sea of another country.
Annual permits also include:
– the two pieces of trident
– two devices for catching large worms
– two trolling rigs with hook for cephalopods catching
– two spearguns
– long-line of one hundred hooks (with the annual one, a special permit for long-line is required)
Annual licenses for sport fishing at sea are valid only with the membership card of the Croatian Association for Sport Fishing at Sea.
Underwater fishing
Underwater fishing is not permitted for persons under the year of 16.
It is forbidden to hunt with an underwater rifle using air bottles and keep them on board while fishing.
Fishing may be done during the day, from sunrise to sunset, using a signal buoy (buoy).
Where to buy permits?
All types of licenses for sport fishing are sold by the Croatian Association for Sport Fishing at Sea through its members – the Association for Sport Fishing at Sea.
Where can I fish in Croatia?
Sport and recreational fishing is allowed in the entire fishing sea of the Republic of Croatia. National parks, special and strict reserves are not fishing seas, and fishing in them is prohibited or specially regulated.
Sport and recreational fishing is prohibited around mariculture facilities (200 m from fish farms, 100 m from shellfish farms), in ports and harbors, and on beaches and bathing areas from 1 May to 1 October.
Exceptionally, sport and recreational fishing are regulated differently in special habitats (estuaries of rivers of Dragonja, Mirna, Raša, Riječina, Zrmanja, Jadro, Žrnovnica, Cetina, Neretva and Dubrovnik, as well as in the canals of Lim and Fažana, Medulin bay and Klimno bay on Krk ) and in other protected areas.
What is allowed to fish in Croatia?
Regardless of the possession of a license, there are legal restrictions on the catch of certain economically important species of fish and other marine organisms, such as minimum catch sizes and hunting bans.
Minimum catch sizes of fish and other marine organisms below which they may not be fished, collected or sold:
Fishes:
| Common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) 12 cm Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) 20 cm Thicklip grey mullet (Liza sp., Chelon sp.) 16 cm Seabream (Diplodus spp.) 15 cm Greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) 45 cm Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone) 120 cm Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) 120 cm European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) 9 cm Black seabream (Spondyliosoma cantharus) 18 cm Brown meagre (Sciaena umbra) 30 cm Dusky grouper (Epinephelus spp.) 45 cm Gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata) 20 cm Common sole (Solea vulgaris) 20 cm European bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) 23 cm European hake (Merluccius merluccius) 16 cm Red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) 30 cm Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) 45 cm Sprat (Sprattus phalericus) 8 cm Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) 18 cm European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus) 10 cm Red scorpionfish (Scorpaena scrofa) 25 cm Red mullet (Mullus spp.) 11 cm Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) 30 kg Dentex (Dentex dentex) 30 cm |
Crabs:
| Europ. lobster (Hommarus gammarus) 24 cm Lobster (Palinurus elaphas) 24 cm Europ. spider crab (Maja squinado) 10 cm Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) 7 cm |
Shells:
| Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) 6 cm European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) 7 cm Mediterr. scallop (Pecten jacobaeus) 10 cm Warty venus (Venus spp.) 5 cm Grooved carpet shell (Ruditapes decussatus) 2,5 cm Noah’s Ark shell (Arca noae) 5 cm |
Forbidden to hunt – Hunting ban
Fishes:
Green wrasse (Labrus viridis) – permanently
Brown meagre (Sciena umbra) – from May 15 to July 15
Dusky grouper, yellowbelly rock cod or yellowbelly grouper (Epinephelus spp) – from July 1 to August 31
Crabs:
European lobster (Hommarus gammarus) – from September 10 to May 15
Lobster (Palinurus elaphas) – from September 10 to May 15
European spider crab (Maja squinado) – from June 1 to November 30
| Regardless of their size, female lobsters and crabs with external eggs must return to the sea immediately after the catch. |
