Timor-Leste

ll) “Dive fishing” means fishing by persons who are immersed, in apnea or with the aid of a breathing equipment, with or without the assistance of a vessel; [...] oo) “Underwater fishing” means dive fishing;

dd) “Sport fishing” means non-profit fishing by an amateur fisherman for an organised competition and for the achievement of sporting performances; [...] ii) “Recreational angling” means non-profit fishing by an amateur fisherman for recreational, entertainment or touristic purposes;

1. Recreational angling may be practiced by: (a) Persons or vessels, whether national or foreign; (b) Tourist businesses, headquartered in the country. 2. Dive fishing or underwater fishing may be practiced in recreational angling, in accordance with the Sub-Section that follows and under the conditions indicated in the respective permit.

Dive fishing or recreational underwater fishing shall require an individual permit or a special permit from the tourist business, whenever such fishing is undertaken within the scope of maritime-touristic activities.

The use of any fishing gear or fishing tool in dive fishing, or underwater fishing whose propulsive force results from the explosive power of a chemical substance or from artificially compressed gas, shall be prohibited.

The specific conditions, requirements and restrictions on dive fishing or recreational underwater fishing shall be defined by regulation.

1. The sale, the display for sale, or any other form of profitable transaction of any marine or aquatic species, or the sale or the display for sale of their parts or by-products thereof, captured within the scope of any type of non-commercial fishing provided for in the present Section, shall be prohibited. 2. Without prejudice to the provisions of item 1 above, catches undertaken within the scope of any type of non-commercial fishing may be used for self- or household consumption of the practitioner or donated to benefactor institutions or to scientific investigation institutions.

1. Dive or underwater fishing for commercial purposes may only be permitted to artisanal fishing of crustaceans and molluscs in accordance with applicable regulations. 2. The use of any fishing gear or tool in dive or underwater fishing, whose propulsive force is a result of a detonating power, chemical substance, or artificially compressed gas, shall be prohibited.

1. Fishing in bays, estuaries and ports shall only be permitted to subsistence and artisanal fishing as defined in regulations. 2. Based on the technical-scientific opinion of competent national or international institutions, the Minister may ban trawling in bays, estuaries and ports as a measure of protection and preservation.

Article 96 (Classification of Protected Areas) 1. The Minister may, by ministerial order, declare as protected areas certain areas of the national waters in order to preserve or facilitate the recovery of fishing resources. 2. [...] the areas referred to in item 1 above may be classified as follows: (a) Aquatic natural reserves, adapted for the recovery of fishing resources; (b) National marine parks; (c) Marine restocking areas. [...] Article 98 (Marine Parks) National marine parks shall be established by Decree-Law upon a joint proposal of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Minister for Environment and any fishing activity in the national parks shall, in principle, be prohibited.

Without prejudice to other offences provided for by the general law, the following constitutes serious offences under the present decree-law: [...] (f) The use in fishing, the onboard possession or the transport of explosives, substances or toxic products without authorisation by the competent authorities;