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Cuba · CU
Cuba
Ministry of the Food Industry (MINAL) — fisheries inspectorate (ONIE)
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
- • Recreational fishing in Cuba requires a state recreational fishing licence; in practice nearly all visiting anglers fish through the state-approved operations that run the designated fishing zones.
- • The famous flats zones (Jardines de la Reina, Cayo Santa María, Isla de la Juventud) are leased to specialist operators and fished under their permits and house rules.
How the rules are organized
- • Fisheries are centrally administered: the state sets the zones, the operators run the fishing inside them, and most prime flats are catch-and-release by zone rule.
- • Outside the managed zones, local recreational fishing from shore and small boats is licensed through provincial fisheries offices.
Good to know — common mistakes
- • Independent DIY flats fishing is effectively not available in the managed zones — book through the operator that holds the zone.
- • Jardines de la Reina is a national park: expect park rules, limited rods per week and strict release of bonefish, permit and tarpon.
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.