Where you can’t fish: protected areas and closed seasons

Marine protected areas: check the exact spot

A park boundary alone does not tell you where fishing is allowed. Different zones can ban all fishing, allow only shore angling or require extra authorisation.

• Locate your spot on ICNF’s protected-area map, then check the park’s zoning map and regulations. ICNF’s mapping catalogue provides boundaries and protected-area planning layers. Maps guide you; the applicable regulations decide what is permitted.
• Check your method against DGRM’s protected-area guidance. For example, Arrábida prohibits recreational fishing in total and partial protection zones, and spearfishing throughout the park. Berlengas also prohibits spearfishing.
• In Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina, total protection and partial protection type I zones prohibit all recreational fishing. Use the ICNF no-fishing maps published by Sines port authority. If a boundary or permission is unclear, confirm your coordinates and method with ICNF and the local capitania before fishing.

Boat fishing: the protected-area weekly rule

In the marine areas of Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina, Parque Natural da Arrábida, Parque Natural do Litoral Norte and Reserva Natural das Berlengas, recreational boat fishing is allowed Thursday–Monday inclusive and on public holidays. Tuesday and Wednesday are excluded unless they are public holidays.

This weekly restriction does not apply from 1 June to 30 September, or to boats operating in the licensed maritime-tourist activity (tourist fishing). It is not a weekly restriction on shore fishing or spearfishing. All other zoning, species and local restrictions still apply—including to tourist boats. See Article 9 of Portaria 14/2014.

Harbours, aquaculture and bathing areas

• Harbour entrances and navigation channels: boat fishing and spearfishing are prohibited in port-entrance and river-mouth navigation channels, port access, approach and narrow channels, and buoyed channels. Shore anglers must check local harbour rules before using a quay or breakwater.
• Aquaculture and shipyards: no recreational fishing inside delimited aquaculture sites or shipbuilding/repair yards. Aquaculture requires formal permission from the concessionaire or owner; local exclusion distances still need checking.
• Marked sewage outlets: no recreational fishing within 100 m of the outlet.
• Bathing areas: fishing is prohibited in waters associated with bathing concessions under the applicable coastal plans. Check the beach notice for boundaries, bathing-season dates and local hours. An empty beach or nightfall does not automatically make fishing legal.
• Signs: obey ‘Proibido pescar’ (no fishing) and ‘Proibido pescar a menos de 100 m’ (no fishing within 100 m). The absence of a sign is not proof that fishing is allowed.

Read DGRM’s area restrictions and your local capitania’s Editais and Avisos. Local rules can be stricter: Nazaré’s guidance, for example, sets harbour exclusion distances and identifies permitted shore-fishing locations. Do not apply one port’s exceptions elsewhere.

Species-specific closed seasons

A defeso is a closed season. Biological closures can also bind recreational anglers under Article 10(4) of Portaria 14/2014. Check the species, area, dates, fishing method and recreational application; a commercial quota or gear closure is not automatically a blanket recreational ban.

Key fish closures to check (not an exhaustive calendar):

• Sargo legítimo (Diplodus sargus) and sargo safia (Diplodus vulgaris): 1–28 February in Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina, explicitly including recreational shore and boat fishing. 2026 amendment.
• Bodião / ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta): 1 March–31 May in the same park.
• Corvina / meagre (Argyrosomus regius): 1–30 June; rays (Raja and Leucoraja): 1 May–30 June; monkfish (Lophius): 1 January–last day of February. These mainland closures also apply recreationally; commercial bycatch allowances do not. Portaria 372/2024/1, Articles 3–8.
• Juliana / pollack (Pollachius pollachius): no retention from 1 January–30 April in 2026; catch-and-release is permitted, according to DGRM’s recreational guidance.

Release accidental catches immediately during applicable closures. Some species are prohibited year-round. Check current DGRM closures and amendments before every trip, including for shellfish. For sizes, daily limits and prohibited species, see our minimum sizes and catch limits guide.

Spearfishing: daylight only

Underwater fishing is prohibited from sunset to sunrise. This is a specific spearfishing rule, not a nationwide night-fishing ban for shore or boat anglers; those methods can still have local night restrictions. Daylight does not override protected-area or navigation-channel bans. DGRM: areas and times.

Official sources and your final check

Based on the restrictions printed on a DGRM recreational fishing licence, checked against the official sources linked above on 1 October 2026. Before setting out, check DGRM’s latest fishing alerts and the capitania responsible for your spot for current closures, health restrictions and access bans. If you cannot confirm that your spot and method are permitted, choose another location.