APPROVED by Order No. D1-14 of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 4 January 2013
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_________________ APPROVED By Order No. D1-14 of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 4 January 2013 RULES ON INLAND ANGLING I. GENERAL PROVISIONS 1. The Rules on Inland Angling (hereinafter ‘the Rules’) set out objects, gear, techniques and an angling system, a procedure for organising angling, and regulate other activities related to inland angling. 2. The Rules do not apply to angling in the Baltic Sea, private reservoirs and ponds. The Rules apply to angling in other private water bodies to the extent specified in the Procedure for angling in inland water bodies under private ownership and joint and several ownership of the state and natural or legal persons, approved by Order No. D1-771 of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 25 September 2012 (Official Gazette, 2012, No. 113-5748). 3. For limited fishing, the Rules apply to the extent specified in legislation on limited angling. Angling in protected areas is regulated also by the regulations, individual protection regulations and management plans of these areas. II. DEFINITIONS 4. For the purposes of these Rules: 4.1. ‘Crayfish trap’ is a trap measuring not more than 100 cm in length and not more than 50 cm in width; 4.2. ‘One fishing event’ is an angling or limited fishing event from the person’s arrival at the fishing site to the end of the fishing event; 4.3. ‘Angler’s permit’ is an angling permit granting a natural person the right to fish in state-owned water bodies which are not under a lease and in which angling is not prohibited under legislation on angling and such fishing requires no angler’s card; 4.4. ‘Angler’s card’ is an angling permission granting the right to fish in the specified state-owned water body in which limited fishing is conducted. 5. Other terms used in these Rules have the meanings assigned to them by the Law on Angling, the Law on Fisheries and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania. III. ANGLING SYSTEM 6. Not more than 5 crayfish traps or crayfish nets and 4 other items of angling gear may be used at a time. When fishing from one boat, one angler may not use more than 2 fishing rods at a time, except where angling takes place from a boat held in place by an anchor or other means. The total number of hooks used at a time may not exceed 6 units, except smelt fishing where the total number of hooks may be 12. When fishing smelt with 12 hooks in open water, all other fishes of any species, excluding flounder, must be released to the same water body immediately. A double or triple hook is deemed to be one hook. The number of traps and nets for catching spiny-cheek and signal crayfish is not limited; catching these crayfish by hand or landing net is also allowed. However, all noble and narrow-clawed crayfish caught during such fishing must be released into the same water body immediately. 7. During one fishing event, it is allowed to catch 1 wels catfish, not more than 2 asps or common barbels, 3 pikes, eels, brown trout or graylings, not more than 5 burbot, zander, chubs or ides (the total number of fish specified in this paragraph may not exceed 5 units), not more than 50 crayfish (except spiny-cheek and signal crayfish for which the catch quantity and size are not limited). The total weight of fish per one fishing event, not specified in this paragraph but allowed for fishing, may not exceed 5 kg, and in the Curonian Lagoon 7 kg, excluding the weight of the last caught fish, smelt for which the allowed quantity is not limited, and except cases where the weight of one fish exceeds the quota set out in this paragraph. Each person engaged in angling must keep his/her catch separated from other persons’ catch. The above-specified catch weight excludes the fish included in the List of invasive species in Lithuania approved by Order No. D1-433 of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 16 August 2004 approving the List of invasive species in Lithuania and repealing some orders of the Minister of Environment (hereinafter ‘the List of invasive species’), and the fish that were caught live and were released into the water body immediately. Fish held in keep net or by any other means restricting their free movement in water pool are included in fishing quota. For all fish caught in breach of legislation on angling, the damage for fish resources is being counted regardless of their vitality. 8. It is allowed to catch small fish and chironomides as bait using one hand net for bait catching that measures not more than 1 meter in diameter and has not more than 10 mm mesh. During one fishing event, one angler is allowed to catch not more than 30 juvenile crucian carps, roaches, perches and other fish species, except predatory fish, the fish listed in paragraphs 12.1 to 12.3 of these Rules and the fish entered on the List of protected fish and crayfish species approved by Order No. 84 of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 31 March 1999.In water bodies under a lease, catching of chironomides may be performed only with an agreement of the lessee of a water body, holding his issued fishing permit, with a right to catch chironomides indicated. 9. During angling contests, the restrictions referred to in paragraph 7 and the prohibition stipulated in paragraph 11.1 of these Rules may be ignored if a written approval has been obtained from: 9.1. the Regional Environmental Protection Department of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter ‘the Regional Environmental Protection Department), in the administrative territory of which the water body is located, in state-owned water bodies not under a lease; 9.2. the lessee of a water body, in state-owned water bodies under a lease. The lessee of a water body must agree the fishing conditions with an appropriate Regional Environmental Protection Department; 9.3. the Directorate of a state park (in addition), if the water body is located in the territory of a state park. 10. The prohibited activities are as follows: 10.1. Fishing by using electrical energy, poisonous or explosive substances, firearms or pneumatic weapons (except spearguns), aqualungs and other autonomous breathing devices; shooting fish with spearguns from a boat or when paddling or walking on the shore; fishing by the stabbing, hooking (when a fish is caught on the hook by any part of the body, except the head) or striking technique; fishing when exceeding the number of allowed fishing gear items or hooks more than two times; fishing with non-recreational fishing gear or removing it from water pool; fishing in breach of paragraph 10.3 of these Rules; fishing in sites where it is prohibited or prohibited at specified time; fishing with gear and baits which are prohibited to use in that site at specified time or without right obtained under the procedure prescribed by legislation to fish with such gear or baits; fishing in breach of paragraphs 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3 of these Rules; fish grayling, brown trout or salmon with baits of natural origin, use crayfish traps or crayfish nets for catching fish, other than noble, narrow-clawed, spiny-cheek, and signal crayfish (hereinafter ‘the prohibited fishing techniques’); 10.2. Keeping or carrying fish spears, long lines and non- recreational fishing gear (hereinafter ‘the prohibited fishing gear’), except where such gear is used for commercial or special fishing under the procedure prescribed by legislation or for the purpose of science and education; 10.3. Removing long lines or non-recreational fishing net gear from water and taking out fish from them. On noticing any prohibited fishing gear in a water body, not labelled as set out in the Procedure for the labelling of fishing gear approved by Order No. D1-383 of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 29 July 2005 (hereinafter ‘the Rules on the Labelling of Fishing Gear’), persons must, without removing such fishing gear from water, report the fact to officers of the environmental state control: to Information reception and management centre of State environment protection agency Tel.: 8(5) 273 2995 or General support centre Tel.: 112; 10.4. Using as bait animals entered on the List of invasive species and fish, listed in paragraphs 12.1-12.3 of these Rules; 10.5. Engaging in underwater fishing without a distinctively visible buoy at the site of fishing; for underwater fishing, using double or forked spear tips for fish other than eels; 10.6. Being in water bodies or less than 25 m from them with angling gear, if fishing in those water bodies is prohibited or prohibited at that time, or without an angling permit that grants the right to fish in that particular water body, or without the right to fish free of charge; also being in water bodies or less than 25 m from them with spearguns intended for underwater fishing, if underwater fishing is prohibited in those water bodies; 10.7. Trading in fish from angling and their products; 10.8. Being on ice of water bodies where the condition of ice threatens human lives or health, the ice cover is thin or the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of Environment has reported ice conditions likely to threaten human lives or health.