Fishing licence = several questions

[nick16]

I am sure these questions have been asked before but couldn't find the answers.

1. Our house is on the Charente/Dordogne border. Do I need licences from both the departments, or can I buy one licence that covers me for both?

2. Does the licence cover you for one year from date of purchase, or does it run for 12 months starting at a certain month?

3. Finally, the costs please?

I would be grateful if someone could answer the above without sending me to a french link.

[nick16]

Still hoping for a reply. Thanks.

[Doodle]

Hi, hope this answers some of your questions although the costs may not be quite up to date,

Fishing areas fall into two categories, each of which has different permit requirements and seasons:

Category 1 (première catégorie): waters mainly inhabited by trout, and those with fish of the salmonidea group (salmon, trout, freshwater whitefish) requiring protection;

Category 2 (seconde catégorie): all other rivers, canals and lakes.

Note: It is illegal to fish without a fishing permit (carte de pêche); the local Mairies provides dates for the season. I can buy mine at my local newsagent.

Fishing permits:

There are a variety of fishing permits available and it's obligatory for any person line-fishing in France to carry a valid carte de pêche on all fishing excursions. Permits are issued to an individual and include an ID photograph. If a permit is lost or destroyed a new one must be purchased.

The Carte de Peche de Vacances covers you for 15 consecutive days and costs around 28 euros and can be used between 1st June and 30th November. After 30th November and beore 1st June an annual fishing permit is obligatory. This costs around 60 euros, prices vary from department to department. It can be used for the whole year BUT only in one department. I believe you can add more departments at extra cost.

The carte de pêche available are:

Carte Personne Majeure: Annual card for adults, category 1 and 2 waters, all types of fishing

Carte Personne Mineure: Annual card for 12 to 18 year olds, category 1 and 2 waters, all types of fishing

Carte Découverte: Annual card valid from 1 January to 31 December for under 12s, category 1 and 2 waters, all types of fishing

Carte Journalière, Day-pass valid for all fishing, available throughout the year

Carte Vacances: Valid for all fishing for the holiday period, 1 June to 31 December

Carte Découverte Femme: Valid for all fishing, 1 line only

Personne Majeure Interdépartementale: Available in some départements

Fishing permits can be bought online in some departments but the websites are in french!

Fishing seasons:

Open seasons vary for the two fishing categories from year to year. They also differ from region to region. The seasons are normally announced at the start of a year and may begin any time from early spring and end in autumn.

Details of the season are published in local newspapers and are available from the town hall.

The Fédération Nationale de la Pêche also publishes the dates on its website as soon as they become available.

Fishing is allowed during the season from half an hour before dawn to half an hour after sunset.

Well you did ask !

[NickP]

Knee gel wrote; " well you did ask"  So Knee gel, can you answer me this question; at the end of my garden I have a river bank, do I need a permit to fish from my garden.

[nick16]

Thank you for taking the time for your full explanation.

As I am going within the next week, I hope I can use the following

''Carte Vacances: Valid for all fishing for the holiday period, 1 June to 31 December .''

[Doodle]

Hi NickP,

You haven't said whether the river is privately owned or publicly owned so hope the info below helps you with what you want to know (particularly the last paragraph) and perhaps more than you want to know! Well you did ask....Chris

There are over 250,000 kilometres of privately owned rivers and streams in France. If you have a watercourse going through or at the perimeter of your property, and you are unsure about your water rights and whether it is public or private property, you should contact your Direction departemental de l'equipement (DDE) who will be based in your Prefecture.

If you are the owner of a private stretch of river or stream then it is important to remember your water rights; it is ownership of the bed only and not the water itself.

Except in the case of spring water which belongs to the owner of the property.

This implies that anyone is permitted to navigate down a stretch of river, whether public or private, but they are not entitled to make use of the riverbank itself. Accordingly, if it is necessary to go on private property to gain access to the river, you need the permission of the owner but an owner is not obliged to grant right of access over their land to reach the river.

If the river is entirely within the bounds of your property then you own the whole of the bed. If, however, it separates two private properties then each have ownership of half of the riverbed.

Unless otherwise specified by agreement, no third party has the right to fish on a private stretch of water that runs through privately owned property.

However, where the river or stream is publicly owned then owners are required to permit fishing, to those with a fishing licence, and to leave a space of 3.5 metres wide along the river bank for right of passage and fishing stations. According to French fishing rights, this space can be reduced to 1.5 metres by the local prefecture. So I think you are going to need a fishing permit.

[NickP]

Thanks for the very thorough reply Knee gel. As you say I had better take advice from the authorities as it's a strange situation. We have a mill stream at the end of our garden, which services a mill a couple of houses downstream, the stream is fed from Le Loir. So the situation is our garden --millstream--island-- Le Loir-- Troo Village I have no commercial interest in the fishing side, but just don't want some jobs-worth shouting at my grandchildren when they're chasing tiddlers and hoping that they don't  actually catch a pike [:D]