Northern Mariana Islands Spearfishing Rules Card

Legal status

Saltwater LegalFreshwater Not permitted

Spearfishing is legal and culturally central in the Northern Mariana Islands' reef and ocean waters, and, unusually for a U.S. jurisdiction, no general recreational fishing license is required to spearfish for reef finfish.

License

No license required in practice. No license is required to spearfish for reef finfish (breath-hold) in CNMI waters.

Gear rules

• Spearguns: Permitted for breath-hold reef spearfishing.
• Pole spears: Permitted on breath-hold, same as spearguns, the code says only 'spear' and does not distinguish pole spears.
• On scuba: NO, this is the headline rule. SCUBA (and hookah/surface-supplied air) while fishing is prohibited CNMI-wide under § 85-30.1-401(a)(1): 'No.
• SCUBA and hookah are banned while fishing anywhere in the CNMI, spearfishing is breath-hold/surface only
• Lobster may NOT be taken by spear, hand capture only; and no lobster under 3 in (76.2 mm) carapace, no egg-bearing or egg-stripped females.
• Explosives, poisons (cyanide, bleach, derris/saponin), and electric shocking devices are prohibited for taking fish (§ 85-30.1-401)
• Prohibited nets: drag nets/beach seines, trap nets, surround nets, and gill nets, only throw/cast (talaya) and scoop/landing nets are.

Do not spear

• Lobster, may not be taken by spear at all
• Trochus
• Sea cucumber
• All corals, hard reef-building corals, soft corals, and stony hydrozoans may not be collected, removed, or disturbed without a license
• Any threatened, endangered, or protected species
• All marine life inside any marine reserve or sanctuary, no fish, coral, lobster, shellfish, clams, or octopus may be killed or removed

Area restrictions

• Marine reserves are total no-take zones, Sasanhaya Fish Reserve (Rota) and Managaha (Mañagaha) Marine Conservation Area (Saipan): no killing.
• No-take sanctuaries where all fishing is prohibited: Bird Island Sanctuary (Saipan), Forbidden Island Sanctuary (Saipan), and the Tinian Marine.
• Species-specific closed areas: Lighthouse Reef Trochus Sanctuary and Lau Lau Bay Sea Cucumber Sanctuary
• Sanctuary/reserve violations carry escalating penalties depending on area, roughly $100 to $10,000 per day

Before you dive

• Never dive alone: one up, one down.
• Check current seasons and sizes the morning of the dive.
• Confirm with CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW): https://dlnr.cnmi.gov/fish-and-wildlife.html