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New Fishing Law.

There is now a new sport fishing law in Puerto Rico, this new law was passed on 12 of March, 2004.    Unlike the old law that only required Commercial Fishermen to have a license, the new law states that all fishermen must have a fishing license, even the occasional sport fishermen that fish on the shores of all body of waters in Puerto Rico.  There is a 60 day studying/prepare period for Dept. Of Natural Resources to study the new laws and then around the 12 of May, 2004 the new law will enter in vigor. 

According to the Dept. of Natural Resources (Dept. de Recursos Naturales), this new law was created to help preserve marine species and create healthier marine life population. 

A Commercial Fishermen's license will be for 4 years and will cost $40.00.   

  A recreational/sport fishing license will depend on the age of the person and the time extension  of the license.  Example, a person of 22 years of age will pay $20.00 for a recreational/sport fishing license for one year, other options are, $5.00 for 7 days and $3.00 for one day.  

The new law also states if you want to fish, lobsters, crabs, live sea shells, Setí, fresh water shrimp and certain varieties of needle nose fish like Marlins/Sail fish, there will be a additional charge of $5.00 to $10.00 daily.

According to Dept. of Natural Resources, these licenses will be available in their 7 Regional Offices.  There will also be available in the future in some stores that sell fishing equipment and will be sold by a automatic teller machines.

The administrative fines for breaking these law will start at $100.00 and in certain cases go as high as a $5,000.00 fine.

New Fishing Law Update 5/13/04:

Yesterday, the 12th of May 2004 I called DRN at their office in Arecibo, P.R. and I was informed that for the moment they are not prepared to put in practice the new law, that they still need more time to be able to install the automatic teller machines around the island.   They also informed that it is ok to go fishing with out the new recreational/sport fishing license until they are ready/prepared to put the new laws in practice, the public will be informed by the news media and I will also post it here. 

I was also given more information about the new upcoming recreational fishing laws.   The $20.00 a year fee for a recreational fishing license in Puerto Rico will be only for residents of Puerto Rico, for fishermen that who are not residents of Puerto Rico, the one year license will be $35.00 and there will be other options for a fishing permit for a week and one day only.    The new recreational law also states that minors of 14 years of age do not need a license if they are accompanied by a adult with a fishing license and recreational fishermen over 60 years old do not need a recreational fishing license, just a identification proving their age.

Check this page from time to time for more info about the new recreational fishing law.

Photos of Game fish.      Fishing Tips      Fishing Laws.     Photos of the river.    History of San Sebastian.  History of Quebradillas.   Vista del lago.     Eddie's Fish Nuggets Recipe.   Lake's birds.

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