← All regulation guides
Bahamas · BS
Bahamas
Department of Marine Resources
Rules change by area and can change mid-season. We explain what the rules mean and always link you to the official source — we never copy a limit table and call it current.
Licences — what you need
- • Visiting boats need a cruising permit that includes fishing; fishing from a Bahamian vessel or with a local guide is covered by the operator's arrangements.
- • Flats fishing has its own personal licence: since the 2017 flats regulations, anglers fishing the flats for bonefish and permit need a flats fishing licence, and the flats species are catch-and-release.
How the rules are organized
- • National fisheries law covers all islands; individual islands and cays add local closures, and several large marine protected areas are fully no-take.
- • Shark fishing is prohibited — the Bahamas is a shark sanctuary; any shark caught must be released unharmed.
Good to know — common mistakes
- • The flats licence and the boat cruising permit are different documents — a common visitor mistake is arriving with only one of them.
- • Grouper and snapper have national seasons and limits that lodges track; Nassau grouper season closures are strictly enforced.
Official links
Fishing locations covered in this guide
This page is a plain-language summary, not the law. Regulations change — including in-season by official notice — and if anything here disagrees with the official source, the official source governs.
AnglerPlan is an information service, not a regulator. If anything here disagrees with an official source, the official source wins — and please tell us so we can fix it.