Peru
Americas · South America
Recreational spearfishing (pesca submarina / pesca deportiva) is legal in Peru and widely practised along the Pacific coast; Peru even hosted the CMAS World Spearfishing Championship. Under the General Fishing Law (Decreto Ley 25977, 1992) and its Regulation (Decreto Supremo 012-2001-PE), recreational/sport fishing is a 'non-commercial' category carried out for recreational or tourist purposes, and individual recreational fishing carried out WITHOUT a vessel does NOT require a fishing permit (Art. 29 of the Regulation). Sale of the catch is not permitted for this category. There is, however, no dedicated national regulation specifically tailored to recreational spearfishing: rules on scuba use, daily bag limits, minimum sizes and a diver registry have been recommended by experts (SPDA) but a comprehensive 'reglamento de pesca deportiva' has not yet been enacted. Species-specific rules do apply: under DS 009-2008-PRODUCE and the infraction regime added by DS 013-2009-PRODUCE, sport fishing of the billfishes (black, blue and striped marlin and sailfish) requires a specific sport-fishing permit and the captured specimen must be released (catch-and-release); their commercialization is prohibited. Industrial/large-scale fishing is prohibited inside marine protected natural areas (e.g. Reserva Nacional de Paracas), while small-scale non-commercial extraction inside ANPs is allowed only under approved management plans. Confidence is medium: the framework laws are confirmed verbatim from official sources, but a single consolidated spearfishing-specific instrument does not exist.
Last updated June 15, 2026
Governing framework
- §Decreto Ley N° 25977 - Ley General de Pesca (1992)
- §Decreto Supremo N° 012-2001-PE - Reglamento de la Ley General de Pesca (2001)
- §Decreto Supremo N° 009-2008-PRODUCE - pesca deportiva de picudos / billfish (2008)
- §Decreto Supremo N° 013-2009-PRODUCE - infracciones pesca deportiva de merlines y pez vela (2009)
- §Ley N° 26834 - Ley de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (1997)
- License required
- Not required
- Speargun
- Allowed
- Foreigners
- Welcome
The law, verbatim
Legal texts
The exact statutory and regulatory provisions that govern spearfishing here, quoted as published, with a link to each official source.
Clasificación de la pesca: no comercial - Deportiva (recreational fishing definition)
Decreto Ley N° 25977 - Ley General de Pesca
b) No comercial, que puede ser: 1. De investigación científica: la realizada con fines de incrementar el conocimiento de los recursos hidrobiológicos y sus ecosistemas. 2. Deportiva: la realizada con fines de recreación. 3. De subsistencia: la realizada con fines de consumo doméstico o trueque, sin fines de lucro.
Personas exceptuadas de contar con permiso de pesca (recreational fishing without vessel exempt from permit)
Decreto Supremo N° 012-2001-PE - Reglamento de la Ley General de Pesca
Artículo 29.- Personas exceptuadas de contar con permiso de pesca. Están exceptuados del permiso de pesca, las personas naturales que realicen pesca de subsistencia y deportiva, esta última sin el empleo de embarcaciones.
Clasificación de la extracción - Deportiva (recreational/tourist purposes; individual recreational fishing requires no permit)
Decreto Supremo N° 012-2001-PE - Reglamento de la Ley General de Pesca
b) No comercial: 1. De investigación científica: comprende la extracción de recursos hidrobiológicos mediante la pesca exploratoria o de prospección y la pesca experimental. 2. Deportiva: la realizada con fines recreacionales o turísticos. El ejercicio individual de la pesca deportiva no requiere permiso de pesca. 3. De subsistencia: la realizada con fines de consumo doméstico o trueque.
Infracciones - pesca deportiva de merlines y pez vela (sport fishing of billfish: permit required, must release, no sale)
Decreto Supremo N° 012-2001-PE - Reglamento de la Ley General de Pesca (numerales 106, 107 y 108 adicionados por DS N° 013-2009-PRODUCE)
106. Practicar pesca deportiva de las especies merlín negro, merlín azul, merlín rayado y pez vela, sin contar con el permiso de pesca deportiva correspondiente. 107. Practicar pesca deportiva de las especies merlín negro, merlín azul, merlín rayado y pez vela, sin liberar el ejemplar capturado. 108. La comercialización de las especies merlín negro, merlín azul, merlín rayado y pez vela.
When you can dive
Seasons & time restrictions
Closed, open and restricted periods across the year. Always confirm species-specific closures locally.
No seasonal closures recorded — verify locally before diving.
Permission to fish
License
What you need to be allowed in the water, what it costs, and how to get it.
- Type
- No permit for individual recreational/sport fishing carried out without a vessel; a sport-fishing permit (permiso de pesca deportiva) IS required to target billfish (marlin/sailfish), and recreational fishing using a vessel requires a permit
- Cost
- unknown
- Validity
- unknown
- How to obtain
- Permits, where required (vessel-based recreational fishing; billfish), are issued by the Ministerio de la Producción (PRODUCE); however the implementation procedure for embarked recreational permits is not fully operative in PRODUCE's TUPA
- Authority
- Ministerio de la Producción (PRODUCE)
Gear & technique
Equipment rules
What gear is permitted, how it may be used, and the conditions attached.
Restrictions
- Spearfishing in Peru is practised in apnea (free-diving). Use of scuba for spearfishing has been proposed to be expressly prohibited in a draft recreational-fishing regulation, but a binding national prohibition has not yet been enacted (status as of 2026).
There is no consolidated national regulation governing recreational spearfishing gear. Existing provisions on diver certification/registry for pesca submarina have been described by experts (SPDA) as inconsistent. Confirm current PRODUCE rules before diving.
What you may take
Catch limits & protected species
Daily quotas, minimum sizes, and species that must never be taken.
Daily limit
No general daily bag limit (LMCD) for recreational fishing is established in national law; expert recommendations (SPDA) propose bag limits for ~22 species, but these are not yet binding.
Protected species — do not take
- ProtectedMerlín negro / black marlin (Makaira indica) - catch-and-release only, sport-fishing permit required, sale prohibited
- ProtectedMerlín azul / blue marlin (Makaira mazara) - catch-and-release only, sport-fishing permit required, sale prohibited
- ProtectedMerlín rayado / striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) - catch-and-release only, sport-fishing permit required, sale prohibited
- ProtectedPez vela / sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) - catch-and-release only, sport-fishing permit required, sale prohibited
- ProtectedMarine turtles (protected under Ley N° 26585 - extraction, processing and commercialization prohibited)
Minimum capture sizes and reproductive closures exist for many commercial species under PRODUCE resolutions but are not specifically codified for recreational spearfishing. Sport fishers should not sell their catch (the recreational/non-commercial category is defined as fishing for recreation, not for profit).
Who may fish
Visitors & residents
How the rules differ for foreign visitors and local residents.
Foreign visitors
AllowedRestrictions
- Existing (draft/inconsistent) pesca submarina diver-registry requirements reportedly limit formal inscription to persons aged 18+ who are Peruvian or Peru residents, a condition criticised by experts as effectively excluding tourists; however this is not a clearly enforced national rule.
Foreign recreational anglers and spearfishers do practise in Peru (the country hosted the CMAS World Spearfishing Championship). Individual non-embarked recreational fishing requires no permit regardless of nationality. Verify any vessel-based or charter requirements locally with PRODUCE/DICAPI.
Residents
No fishing permit required for individual recreational/sport fishing without a vessel (residents and nationals alike)
Peru does not operate a general recreational fishing licence system; the non-commercial 'deportiva' category is exempt from permits when carried out individually and without a vessel (DS 012-2001-PE, Art. 29).
Where on the coast
Allowed & prohibited zones
Named areas that are open to or closed for spearfishing. See the full picture on the interactive map.
Prohibited areas
- Reserva Nacional de Paracasnational reserve / marine protected area
Marine and coastal protected natural area (ANP) of about 335,000 ha (roughly 200,000 ha in the Pacific Ocean) in the Ica region. Industrial/large-scale fishing is prohibited inside marine protected natural areas; non-commercial extraction is permitted only within approved management plans. Marine turtle species are legally protected (extraction, processing and commercialization prohibited under Ley N° 26585).
Conditions on the water
Live conditions
Live marine and weather snapshot near a coastal reference point in Peru, from Open-Meteo. Conditions vary along the coast — treat as indicative.
Live marine & weather near Reserva Nacional de Paracas.
Who to ask
Authorities
The official bodies responsible for fisheries and licensing.
Ministerio de la Producción (PRODUCE) - Viceministerio de Pesca y Acuicultura
fisheries authority
Dirección General de Capitanías y Guardacostas (DICAPI) - Marina de Guerra del Perú
maritime authority
Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado (SERNANP)
protected areas authority
FEDEPASA - Federación Deportiva Peruana de Actividades Subacuáticas
dive / spearfishing federation
Where this comes from
Sources
Every claim on this page traces back to one of these references.
- [01]
Decreto Ley N° 25977 - Ley General de Pesca (Congreso de la República del Perú)
Officialwww2.congreso.gob.peAccessed Jun 15 - [02]
Decreto Supremo N° 012-2001-PE - Reglamento de la Ley General de Pesca (SENACE)
Officialsenace.gob.peAccessed Jun 15 - [03]
SPDA - La pesca recreativa marítima en el Perú (Actualidad Ambiental)
Secondaryactualidadambiental.peAccessed Jun 15 - [04]
Reglas de Juego en el Sector Pesca - Mar del Perú (pesca deportiva / recreativa)
Secondarymardelperu.peAccessed Jun 15 - [05]
Reserva Nacional de Paracas (coordinates and protections)
Secondaryes.wikipedia.orgAccessed Jun 15 - [06]
FEDEPASA - Federación Deportiva Peruana de Actividades Subacuáticas
communityfedepasa.orgAccessed Jun 15
Researcher notes
Peru has a clear statutory framework for non-commercial 'pesca deportiva' (recreational fishing) in DL 25977 and DS 012-2001-PE, but NO dedicated national regulation specifically for recreational spearfishing (pesca submarina). Key verbatim provisions (Art. 20 DL 25977; Arts. 29-30 and billfish infractions 106-108 of DS 012-2001-PE) were extracted directly from official PDF sources. Practical points: (1) individual spearfishing without a vessel needs no permit; (2) catch may not be sold; (3) billfish (marlin/sailfish) are catch-and-release only and require a sport-fishing permit; (4) industrial fishing is banned inside marine ANPs such as Reserva Nacional de Paracas. Scuba-for-spearfishing prohibition, daily bag limits, minimum sizes and a diver registry have been RECOMMENDED by SPDA but are not yet codified in a binding national instrument (confirmed as of mid-2026), so equipment_rules.scuba_allowed and several limits are left null/unknown rather than guessed. Confidence: medium. No closed seasons specific to recreational spearfishing were found, so seasons[] is left empty; species-specific commercial closures exist but are not spearfishing-specific.
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