Hawaii Spearfishing Rules Card

Legal status

Saltwater LegalFreshwater Permitted

Spearfishing is legal and popular throughout Hawaiʻi's ocean waters, and the state's rules are unusually permissive: spears are allowed for all finfish subject to size limits, closed seasons, and area rules, and, unlike most U.S.

License

Required: Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License (NRMFL), non-residents only; residents need none

Resident: None, Hawaiʻi does not require residents to hold a recreational marine (saltwater) fishing license for spearfishing. (A Freshwater Game Fishing License, $5 for residents over 15, is required only to take introduced freshwater game fish.)

Non-resident: NRMFL: $20 (1-day), $40 (7-day), $70 (annual), plus any online processing fee. Non-resident Freshwater Game Fishing License: $25 annual, $10 (7-day tourist), $20 (30-day tourist).

Gear rules

• Spearguns: Generally allowed statewide, the rules permit 'fishing with spears... for all fishes' and do not restrict propulsion type in most waters.
• Pole spears: Allowed statewide, and in several restricted areas the pole spear is the ONLY permitted spear (e.g., within the four Puʻuhonua and.
• On scuba: Legal statewide EXCEPT where an area rule bans it, this is Hawaiʻi's most important and most-misreported gear point.
• Unlawful to spear any crustacean (crabs, lobster/ula, etc.), the sole exception is introduced freshwater prawn.
• Unlawful to spear any turtle or any aquatic (marine) mammal at any time.
• Unlawful to pursue, take or kill any fish, crustacean, mollusk, turtle, or marine mammal with firearms, except tuna and billfish that have.
• SCUBA spearfishing prohibited throughout the West Hawaiʻi Regional FMA (whole west Big Island coast).

Do not spear

• Any crustacean, all crabs and lobster
• Sea turtles, may not be speared or taken
• Marine
• Uhu ʻeleʻele and uhu uliuli
• Area-specific protected species where spearing/take is barred
• Note: any finfish species that has a minimum size or closed season may not be speared out of season or under size; MLCDs prohibit taking all marine life

Area restrictions

• Marine Life Conservation Districts (MLCDs), e.g., Hanauma Bay, Molokini Shoal, Old Kona Airport, Kealakekua Bay, Waikīkī, Pūpūkea, Lapakahi, Waialea.
• West Hawaiʻi Regional FMA (entire west coast of the Big Island): SCUBA spearfishing prohibited, and possessing SCUBA gear together with a spear.
• Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Areas / traditional zones, within the four Puʻuhonua and the Puakaiʻa Miloliʻi zone (Miloliʻi CBSFA, South Kona).
• Numerous FMAs impose night-spearing bans (no spear use or possession with dive gear from sunset to sunrise) and rotating open/closed fishing years.

Before you dive

• Never dive alone: one up, one down.
• Check current seasons and sizes the morning of the dive.
• Confirm with Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR): https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/fishing/fishing-regulations/