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Fishing from a boat or kayak in Cyprus: licence, catch limit and no-go zones

From a boat you need a €35 licence and may land no more than 10 kg per boat per trip. Every fish has the upper tail lobe cut, every trip is logged in Cy-FIS, and sharks and rays go back.

Fishing in Cyprus Checked: Changed:

In short

Who it applies to
Anyone fishing from a boat, a kayak or a canoe — even with a rod and close to the shore. The licence is personal: each angler on board needs their own.
What it costs
The “with a vessel” licence costs €35 a year per person. The vessel itself is not charged separately but is declared in the application; up to three may be declared.
How long it takes
The licence is approved within 2 working days. Every trip is logged in the Cy-FIS app in real time: the start just before you set out, the end as soon as you are back, the catch in kilograms by species.
Where to apply
No fishing in designated bathing areas (περιοχές λουομένων), day or night. Special limits on fishing and anchoring apply in marine protected areas, around the Zenobia wreck, near fish farms and at fishing-harbour entrances.
If your case differs
The catch may not be sold. Every fish has the upper lobe of the tail fin cut off, and on board it may only be gutted and scaled. Lights for fishing are banned. Bluefin tuna, swordfish and any shark or ray go straight back.

Your case

If the boat is yours

You declare the boat in your licence application: name, registration number, length and engine power. Any licence holder who has declared it for the year may then fish from it. One person logs the trip in Cy-FIS for everyone — preferably the owner — and states how many licence holders are on board.

If you fish from someone else’s boat

You still need your own licence. The boat is declared either by its owner or by you, in which case the owner’s authorisation is attached to the application. You may not fish from a vessel nobody has declared for the year.

If it is a kayak or a canoe

The form has a separate box for it — “owner of an unregistered vessel (canoe, kayak)”. The licence is the same “with a vessel” one, and so is the catch limit — per kayak, as per boat. Cy-FIS is mandatory.

If you go out on a paid fishing charter

The operator holds a separate licence “within a professional tourist activity”: rod or handline only, no nets, traps or speargun, the same per-boat limit, a catch logbook and a notice on board about the ban on sharks and rays. Whether a passenger needs a licence of their own the terms do not say — ask the operator before you set out.

If you take a bottom longline or traps, or fish for octopus

A longline — from noon on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and the day before a public holiday until noon the next day. Octopus and the octopus jig may be on board only in daytime on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. In July and August both day limits are lifted. The gear carries the boat’s registration number.

Deadlines and conditions

  • a licence to fish from a boat costs €35 a yeargov.cy, the “Apply and pay for a recreational fishing license” service, Fees.
  • no more than 10 kg per boat per trip and per day, however many licence holders are on board2026 terms v3.0, §20; reg. 17Β of ΚΔΠ 273/1990.
  • or 5 kg plus one fish of any weight2026 terms v3.0, §20(ii).
  • or 3 albacore and 5 kg of other fish2026 terms v3.0, §20(iii).
  • dusky grouper (ορφός) and dentex (συναγρίδα) — no more than 1 per boat per trip and per day2026 terms v3.0, §11.
  • albacore may not be caught or kept on board in March and from 1 October to 30 November2026 terms v3.0, §10; DFMR notice of the closed season 1.10–30.11.2026.
  • special restrictions within 500 m of the Zenobia wreck2026 terms v3.0, §5; ΚΔΠ 379/2021.
  • special restrictions within 100 m of a sea fish farm or a fishing-harbour entrance2026 terms v3.0, §5; reg. 14 of ΚΔΠ 273/1990, ΚΔΠ 83/94.
Show all conditions (12)
  • no more than two bottom longlines on board, each with no more than 200 hooks2026 terms v3.0, §15.
  • no more than 4 fish traps on board2026 terms v3.0, §15.
  • an electric reel may not exceed 800 W2026 terms v3.0, §15.
  • breaching the fishing rules — a fine of up to €20,000Cap. 135, art. 6(3) — breach of the regulations: up to a year in prison, or the fine, or both; breach of a protected-area order — art. 5Α(6), up to two years.

Sources

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