Spearfishing permit in Morocco — how to get the authorisation

Spearfishing in Morocco is not a free-for-all. What divers call the permit is a special authorisation, provided for by the dahir bearing law no. 1-73-255 of 23 November 1973, which regulates sea fishing. Without it, the first meeting with an inspector at sea or on the slipway ends with a fine, and the gear may follow. Here is the process, as clubs and spearos describe it to us.

1. Find the right delegation

The authorisation is issued by the maritime fisheries delegation of the district where you intend to dive, not the one where you live. A spearo from Casablanca spending the summer in Dakhla applies in Dakhla.

The contact details of every delegation are on the website of the Department of Maritime Fisheries. A phone call before going saves a wasted trip: counter hours and the documents requested vary from one port to another.

2. Prepare the file

From what is reported to us, the file contains:

• a written request addressed to the fisheries delegate;
• a copy of your identity document: the national ID card for Moroccans, a residence card or passport for non-residents;
• four passport photos;
• the stamp duty and the fee. Its amount is set by regulation; we could not find the figure in force, ask at the counter;
• a medical certificate less than three months old stating fitness for breath-hold diving;
• a valid insurance certificate covering civil liability and diving risks.

Some delegations also ask for a membership card of a club affiliated to the diving federation. Not all of them. If you are not in a club, ask before building the file.

3. Age

The minimum age is most often given to us as 18, or 16 with written parental consent. Like the rest it is to be confirmed at the counter, but ask before building a file for a minor rather than after.

4. Validity and renewal

The authorisation is described to us as annual, expiring at the end of the calendar year, and renewable. Check the date on the document itself: an authorisation requested in October may only be valid until 31 December.

5. Visitors

The texts provide a fee exemption for tourists for the length of their stay. It waives the payment, not the application: the authorisation is still required. In practice, the shortest path for a visitor is to contact a local club before arriving.

6. What the authorisation does not cover

Having the paper is not enough. What comes with it still applies, and that is where most trouble starts:

• breath-hold only: a tank in the boat next to a speargun puts you outside your authorisation;
• daylight only: from sunrise to sunset;
• for your own table. Selling the catch is forbidden, and it is the most prosecuted offence;
• more than 50 m from ports, supervised beaches and aquaculture zones;
• with a surface float, required so that boats can see you;
• never a loaded gun out of the water, neither ashore nor aboard;
• the minimum sizes species by species, and the closed or forbidden species.

On the number of fish per day we would rather say nothing. A daily cap is often quoted in conversation, but we have not found the text that sets it, and the Regulations page files it under the points it has not verified. Ask your delegation for it along with everything else.

In short

Find the delegation of the port where you will dive, call to confirm the list of documents, build the file with the medical certificate and the insurance, and ask for the validity date when you collect the document. The rest is the sea.