Fishing Spot Japan

Fishing rules in Shiga

What Shiga 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 Shiga’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.

Shiga 15

×Rake / clam tool△Cast net○Hand line & rod fishing○Trolling16○Landing net○Scoop net○Fishing spear (excluding harpoons)17○Hand gathering18
○ 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 Shiga

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

  1. 15
  2. 16
  3. 17
  4. 18
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 Shiga 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 Shiga’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

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

Tsuchiyama

Winter
Buy permit →

Echigawa Fishery Cooperative

Buy permit →

Kusanogawa Fishery Cooperative

Buy permit →

Katsuragawa

Buy permit →

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:

  • 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.

Shiga Inland Fisheries Federation
077-522-0126

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