Bigfin Reef Squid fishing in Goto Islands

Shore eging is accessible without a boat, which makes it the easiest serious target here for a visitor travelling light.

April, May, October, November and December are the prime months. No permit is required for recreational sea fishing.

When

Season grading is our editorial judgement, not a sourced figure. It says when the fish is catchable, not when the water is legally open — for that, read the closed seasons below.

Do you need a permit?

No permit is required for recreational sea fishing.

Water: Saltwater
Prefecture: Nagasaki
Region: Kyushu
Getting there: 30 min flight or 1 h 40 jetfoil from Nagasaki

How far our answer goes here

✓National lawApplies everywhere. Foreign-national gear limits, protected species, bluefin controls.
✓PrefectureMinimum sizes, closed seasons and legal gear. This is a floor — local rules add to it, never subtract.
✓Sea-area / inland committeeGoto has its own Sea-area Fisheries Adjustment Commission, separate from Tsushima and Northern Nagasaki. Trolling needs the prefectural federated commission's approval.
—Cooperative permitSea fishing needs no cooperative permit. A Common Fishery Right still covers the shore — see the rule above.

Rules stack. Everything above the line we hold; everything below it you still need to confirm on the ground. That gap is exactly what a local guide is for.

Legal gear in Nagasaki

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

Sea areas only, as of 2026-03-31. Anything not listed — diving apparatus, spearguns — may not be used at all. Full table & footnotes

Size limits and closed seasons

Nagasaki 長崎県 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 lengthあわび（殻長10cm超）	1 Nov – 20 Dec	Under 10 cm is prohibited year round, and abalone is nationally protected in any case.
Pen shell over 15 cmたいらぎ（殻の最長径15cm超）	1 Jun – 30 Sep
Spiny lobster over 15 cm body lengthいせえび（体長15cm超）	21 May – 20 Aug
Sea cucumberなまこ	1 Apr – 31 Oct	Also nationally protected.
Ayu (sweetfish)あゆ	1 Jan – 31 May
Red snow crabべにずわいがに	1 Jul – 31 Aug

May not be taken at or under this size

Amberjack (buri)ぶり	15 cm total length or under
Japanese eelうなぎ	21 cm total length or under
Common octopusまだこ	100 g or under (by weight)
Spiny lobsterいせえび	15 cm body length or under
Abaloneあわび	10 cm shell length or under
Horned turbanさざえ	2.5 cm operculum long axis or under
Pen shellたいらぎ	15 cm shell longest diameter or under
Manila clamあさり	2 cm shell length or under
Hard clamはまぐり	3 cm shell length or under
Mogai ark shellもがい	3 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

About Bigfin Reef Squid

The reason eging exists. Accessible from the shore, which makes it one of the easiest serious targets for a visitor without a boat.

Japanese: アオリイカ · aoriika
Scientific name: Sepioteuthis lessoniana
Typical size: 20–45 cm mantle (8–18 in)

How it is fished here

Eging, Tip-run

Eging — Squid fishing with an egi — a weighted, cloth-wrapped shrimp lure descended from an 18th-century Japanese design.

Tip-run — Boat eging on the drift, detecting the squid on the rod tip.