Fishing Spot Japan

Fishing rules in Mie

What Mie adds on top of national law, and what we still do not hold for it. Rules stack downwards: the prefecture may restrict more than the nation, and a cooperative more than the prefecture. None may permit what a layer above forbids.

Legal gear

These are the gear a non-professional may use in Mie’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.

Mie

×Trolling△Cast net●Fishing spear (excluding harpoons)●Rake / clam tool28○Hand line & rod fishing○Landing net○Scoop net○Hand gathering
○ Permitted● Permitted, but lights / fish-attracting lamps are prohibited△ Permitted, but not from a vessel※ Permitted, but chumming is prohibited▲ Permitted, but chumming from a vessel is prohibited× Prohibited

Footnotes that apply in Mie

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

  1. 28
Source: https://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/yugyo/y_kisei/kisoku/todo_huken/index.htmlAs of 2026-03-31✓ checked 2026-08-25

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.

Method / gearShore (no vessel)Vessel under 3 GTVessel 3 GT or more
Rod fishing, handlineyesyesguide-only
Landing net, scoop net, fishing spear, clam rake or knifeyesyesguide-only
Cast netyesnono
Trollingn/ayesguide-only

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 Mie 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

Mie VERIFIED

Possessing or selling anything taken in breach of these rules is also prohibited.

Applies to: Sea and inland. The source regulation covers both sea and inland waters. Cooperatives add further rules on rivers and lakes.

Closed seasons

Pen shell1 Jun – 31 Jul
Abalone15 Sep – 31 DecAlso nationally protected.
Spiny lobster1 May – 30 SepNorth of the Toba island line the window ends 15 Sep.
Amago1 Oct – end of Feb
Ayu (sweetfish)1 Jan – 10 MayTo 25 May on the Kizu and Kumano systems; to 31 May on the Kiso.
Japanese dace1 Mar – 31 MayKumano River system only.

May not be taken at or under this size

Manila clam2 cm shell length or under
Hard clam3 cm shell length or under
Abalone10.6 cm shell length or under
Horned turban2.5 cm operculum long axis or under
Spiny lobster4.2 cm carapace length or under, measured from between the eye spines to the rear centre of the carapace
Amberjack (buri)15 cm total length or under
Amago12 cm total length or under; 10 cm on the Kumano system
Japanese eel20 cm total length or under; 30 cm on the Kumano system
Common carp15 cm total length or under — Kumano system only

Prohibited methods

  • Sea — Anything outside the permitted list (Rules art. 40)
  • Sea — Spear used with light; gaff used with a dredge or with light
  • Sea — Cast net from a boat

Permitted at sea: rod and handline; landing and scoop net; cast net from the shore only; spear (not with light) and gaff (not with a dredge or light); hand gathering. Mie also closes named river stretches outright — parts of the Inabe, Kumozu, Kushida, Miyagawa, Isuzu and Ōmata systems, some for a few weeks in autumn and some all year round.

Source: Mie Prefecture Fisheries Division — Fisheries Adjustment Rules, arts. 35, 36, 38 and 40 (closed seasons, size limits, closed areas and permitted gear). https://www.pref.mie.lg.jp/SUISAN/HP/47233033653.htm✓ checked 2026-08-26

Places we list here

What we do not hold, and who to ask

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

  • 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.

Mie Inland Fisheries Federation
0598-83-2293

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