Guam Spearfishing Rules Card

Legal status

Saltwater LegalFreshwater Not permitted

Guam is a U.S. Pacific island territory with an entirely marine (coral-reef) spearfishing scene and no recreational fishing license of any kind, residents and visitors alike can breath-hold spearfish in open ocean waters without a permit.

License

No license required in practice. No one, for recreational SALTWATER spearfishing, the entire spearfishing use-case.

Gear rules

• Spearguns: Allowed for breath-hold spearfishing in open (non-preserve) ocean waters, Guam does not restrict spear propulsion type; the restriction is.
• Pole spears: Allowed for breath-hold spearfishing in open ocean waters, same as spearguns, no propulsion-type restriction outside preserves.
• On scuba: NO, this is Guam's defining rule. Under 5 GCA §63116.3 ('Fishing with SCUBA Devices') it is unlawful to take any fish with a spear or any.
• No taking fish with a spear (or any device) while SCUBA diving anywhere in Guam waters, spearfishing must be breath-hold only (5 GCA.
• No spearfishing (or any take) inside the five marine preserves, 9 GAR §12202(b) expressly lists 'spear fishing' among prohibited preserve.
• It is unlawful to kill, maim or injure any fish without a reasonable effort to retrieve it and count it toward the bag/creel limit (no.
• Protected species may not be speared: sea turtles, marine mammals, and (federally managed) humphead/Napoleon wrasse and bumphead.

Do not spear

• Sea turtles
• Marine mammals
• Humphead
• Bumphead parrotfish
• Shark fins, 5 GCA §63114.1 makes it unlawful to possess, take, buy, sell, trade, transport, import or export shark fins in Guam
• Ray parts, 5 GCA §63114.2 makes it unlawful to possess, take, buy, sell, trade, transport, import or export ray parts in Guam
• Giant clams
• All marine life inside a marine preserve, no species may be speared or taken there except as specifically permitted

Area restrictions

• Guam's five marine preserves are NO-SPEARFISHING (and largely no-take) zones: Tumon Bay, Piti Bomb Holes, Sasa Bay, Achang Reef Flat, and Pati Point.
• Sasa Bay preserve, all forms of fishing and collection are prohibited.
• Tumon Bay preserve, spearfishing prohibited; only limited shore-based hook-and-line and seasonal talåya (cast net) for designated species are allowed.
• Piti Bomb Holes and Achang Reef Flat preserves, spearfishing prohibited; limited trolling from the reef margin seaward and certain seasonal permits.

Before you dive

• Never dive alone: one up, one down.
• Check current seasons and sizes the morning of the dive.
• Confirm with Guam Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic & Wildlife Resources (DAWR): https://doag.guam.gov/dawr/