Fishing Spot Japan

Fishing rules in Nagasaki

What Nagasaki 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 Nagasaki’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.

Nagasaki

×Scoop net●Landing net○Hand line & rod fishing○Trolling7○Cast net○Fishing spear (excluding harpoons)○Rake / clam tool○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 Nagasaki

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

  1. 7
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 Nagasaki 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

Nagasaki VERIFIED

Breaching a size limit or closed season: up to 6 months' imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥100,000. Infringing a fishery right: a fine of up to ¥1,000,000. Taking abalone, sea cucumber or glass eel: up to 3 years or ¥30,000,000.

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

Closed seasons

Abalone over 10 cm shell length1 Nov – 20 DecUnder 10 cm is prohibited year round, and abalone is nationally protected in any case.
Pen shell over 15 cm1 Jun – 30 Sep
Spiny lobster over 15 cm body length21 May – 20 Aug
Sea cucumber1 Apr – 31 OctAlso nationally protected.
Ayu (sweetfish)1 Jan – 31 May
Red snow crab1 Jul – 31 Aug

May not be taken at or under this size

Amberjack (buri)15 cm total length or under
Japanese eel21 cm total length or under
Common octopus100 g or under (by weight)
Spiny lobster15 cm body length or under
Abalone10 cm shell length or under
Horned turban2.5 cm operculum long axis or under
Pen shell15 cm shell longest diameter or under
Manila clam2 cm shell length or under
Hard clam3 cm shell length or under
Mogai ark shell3 cm shell length or under

Prohibited methods

  • Sea — Anything outside the permitted list (Rules art. 45)
  • Sea — Spears with a launching mechanism — bow, gun, rubber or spring. Those count as a 'mori' and are not permitted at all
  • Sea — Unapproved trolling — see the committee instruction below

Permitted for non-professionals: hand gathering, rod, handline, landing net, cast net, trolling (with approval), and a fixed-head spear or gaff. The prefecture amended the Rules on 30 August 2024 specifically to spell out what counts as a 'yasu': the head must be fixed to the shaft and the shaft held in the hand. Anything launched — bow, gun, rubber or spring — is a 'mori' and is prohibited.

Local committee instructions

  • Trolling needs approval. Under a 2023 instruction of the Nagasaki Prefectural Federated Sea-area Fisheries Adjustment Commission, anyone other than a licensed fisher who wants to troll must obtain the commission's approval first. The national gear table shows Nagasaki as ○ for trolling, which is true only once you hold that approval.
  • Nagasaki runs three separate sea-area commissions — Tsushima, Northern Nagasaki, and Goto — each able to issue its own instructions for its waters.
Source: Nagasaki Prefecture Fisheries Promotion Division — Fisheries Adjustment Rules arts. 33, 35, 45. The page moved in 2026; the old path now 404s. https://www.pref.nagasaki.jp/bunrui/shigoto-sangyo/suisangho/gyogyo-shinko/gyogyo-tyosei/tyosei-kisoku/✓ checked 2026-08-28

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.

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