Fishing rules in Iwate

Legal gear

These are the gear a non-professional may use in Iwate’s sea areas. The list is exhaustive: anything not shown here may not be used at all, which catches out visitors who assume a speargun or diving apparatus is merely restricted rather than banned.

Footnotes that apply in Iwate

These are the prefecture’s own qualifications on the marks above, quoted from the source table in Japanese.

1. 4 柄の長さ50cm以内のくまでに限る。

If you are not a Japanese national

Under the Act on the Regulation of Fishing Operations by Foreign Nationals (Act No. 60 of 1967), recreational fishing by foreign nationals in Japanese waters is limited to 'gathering or catching of aquatic animals or plants on a minor scale'. What you may use depends on the size of the boat you are on.

On a vessel of 3 gross tons or more, a foreign national may fish ONLY when the trip is run by a Japanese vessel under the control of a Japanese fisher — that is, a registered charter (yugyosen) or fishing boat. Most serious offshore boats are over 3 GT, so for offshore fishing a licensed Japanese guide is not a convenience. It is the law.

Up to 3 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to ¥30,000,000, or both — for breaching the gear and method rules that apply specifically to foreign nationals.

This is national law and applies in Iwate exactly as everywhere else. It sits on top of the prefecture’s gear list above — you need to clear both.

Size limits and closed seasons

We have not transcribed Iwate’s minimum sizes and closed seasons yet. That is a gap in this page, not an absence of rules — every prefecture sets them, and taking an undersized fish is an offence whether or not we list the figure. Ask the prefecture or the cooperative before you keep anything.

Cooperatives that sell a permit online

12 in Iwate. Buying before you travel matters: on many rivers the price doubles if you buy it on the bank.

Who holds the fishing right

31 cooperatives on record in Iwate, from the fifth-class fishery rights and permit rules the prefecture publishes by law. A right names the waters and the species it covers — outside that list no cooperative permit is required, though national and prefectural rules still are.

• Hirono-cho Fishery Cooperative 洋野町漁業協同組合内共第1号Ariie River遊漁規則 PDF and fishing-ground map published by the prefecture (updated Feb 2026)
• Shimo-Akka Fishery Cooperative 下安家漁業協同組合内共第3号Lower Akka RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Akkagawa Fishery Cooperative 安家川漁業協同組合内共第3号Upper Akka RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Fudai-mura Fishery Cooperative 普代村漁業協同組合内共第4号Fudai River遊漁規則 PDF and fishing-ground map published by the prefecture (updated Feb 2026)
• Omoto River Fishery Cooperative 小本河川漁業協同組合内共第5号Lower Omoto RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Omotogawa Fishery Cooperative 小本川漁業協同組合内共第5号Upper Omoto RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Taro-cho River Fishery Cooperative 田老町河川漁業協同組合内共第6号・第7号Settai and Tashiro RiversCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Heigawa Fishery Cooperative 閉伊川漁業協同組合内共第8号Hei RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Miyako Fishery Cooperative 宮古漁業協同組合内共第9号Tsugaruishi River遊漁規則 PDF and fishing-ground map published by the prefecture (updated Feb 2026)
• Otsuchi River Fishery Cooperative 大槌河川漁業協同組合内共第10号・第11号Otsuchi and Kozuchi RiversCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Unosumaigawa Fishery Cooperative 鵜住居川漁業協同組合内共第12号Unosumai RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Sakarigawa Fishery Cooperative 盛川漁業協同組合内共第14号Sakari RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Kesengawa Fishery Cooperative 気仙川漁業協同組合内共第15号Kesen RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Seibu Kunohe River Fishery Cooperative 西部九戸河川漁業協同組合内共第16号Niida RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Nanbu Mabechigawa Fishery Cooperative 南部馬淵川漁業協同組合内共第17号Lower Mabechi RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Kami-Mabechigawa Fishery Cooperative 上馬淵川漁業協同組合内共第17号Upper Mabechi RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Iwate Yonashirogawa Fishery Cooperative 岩手県米代川漁業協同組合内共第18号Yonashiro River遊漁規則 PDF and fishing-ground map published by the prefecture (updated Feb 2026)
• Kami-Kitakamigawa Fishery Cooperative 上北上川漁業協同組合内共第19号Kitakami River system (upper reaches) — one of our listed areas.Covered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Gandoko Fishery Cooperative 岩洞湖漁業協同組合内共第20号Lake Gando — a noted winter wakasagi ice-fishing lake遊漁規則 PDF and fishing-ground map published by the prefecture (updated Feb 2026)
• Matsukawa Freshwater Fishery Cooperative 松川淡水漁業協同組合内共第21号Matsu RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Shizukuishigawa Fishery Cooperative 雫石川漁業協同組合内共第22号Upper Shizukuishi River遊漁規則 PDF and fishing-ground map published by the prefecture (updated Feb 2026)
• Shizukuishigawa Tobu Fishery Cooperative 雫石川東部漁業協同組合内共第22号Lower Shizukuishi RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Morioka River Fishery Cooperative 盛岡河川漁業協同組合内共第23号Yana RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Hienukigawa Fishery Cooperative 稗貫川漁業協同組合内共第24号Hienuki RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Kami-Sarugaishigawa Fishery Cooperative 上猿ヶ石川漁業協同組合内共第25号Upper Sarugaishi RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Sarugaishigawa Fishery Cooperative 猿ヶ石川漁業協同組合内共第25号Lower Sarugaishi RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Toyosawagawa Fishery Cooperative 豊沢川漁業協同組合内共第26号Toyosawa RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Nishiwaga Freshwater Fishery Cooperative 西和賀淡水漁業協同組合内共第27号Upper Waga RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Wagagawa Freshwater Fishery Cooperative 和賀川淡水漁業協同組合内共第28号Lower Waga RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Tanko River Fishery Cooperative 胆江河川漁業協同組合内共第29〜32号Isawa, Hirose, Hitokabe and Koromo RiversCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).
• Satetsugawa Fishery Cooperative 砂鉄川漁業協同組合内共第33号Satetsu RiverCovered by the Iwate prefecture-wide common permit (issued by the Iwate Inland Fisheries Federation).

Places we list here

• Kitakami River systemFreshwater · Tohoku · Shinkansen to Morioka
• Sanriku coastSaltwater · Tohoku · Shinkansen to Morioka, then 2 h

What we do not hold, and who to ask

Being explicit about the gap is the point of this page. What is missing:

• This prefecture’s minimum sizes and closed seasons — not transcribed yet.
• Sea-area and inland committee directives, which close specific waters or periods. We hold these for a few prefectures only.
• Port and municipal rules. Posted on signs at the water, in Japanese, and published nowhere centrally.

National rules apply on top of everything here — see Before you fish. How every figure is graded is set out in Data & sources.