Taking fish home from Norway
What you may and may not take with you, and why.
- 15 kg per person
- up to 2 times per calendar year
- from the age of 12
- fillets and processed fish count at their actual weight
- a trophy fish does not come on top of this
What we handle for you
- You fish with us. Use handheld tackle — rod, line, jig. Nets, pots, fyke nets and longlines are not permitted.
- We report the catch daily to the Directorate of Fisheries. That is a legal duty, and it has to be done before we can issue your paperwork.
- We gut and fillet, and you pack your quota.
- You receive your export documentation before you travel. It is personal to you: name, date of birth and home address, our organisation number, your stay and fishing dates, date of issue and a signature. We cannot issue one document for a group.
- Keep the document in your hand luggage. You must be travelling with the fish yourself — you cannot carry fish for someone flying on a different day.
- At the airport: have the document ready if Customs asks. If you are carrying goods worth over NOK 5,000, they must be declared.
Species, minimum sizes and closed seasons
| Species | Minimum size here | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cod | 55 cm | Stricter inside the fjord than offshore |
| Saithe (coalfish) | none | Recreational fishing, not for sale |
| Mackerel | none | Recreational fishing, not for sale |
| Haddock | 40 cm | |
| Halibut | 84 cm | Closed 20 Dec – 20 Apr. Any halibut over 2 m must be released |
| Redfish | 32 cm | Hand jig only, and only 1 June – 31 August |
| Ling | none | Blue ling is fully protected |
| Tusk | none | |
| Wolffish | none | |
| Pollack | none | |
| Whiting | 32 cm | |
| Plaice | 29 cm | |
| Sea trout | 35 cm | Separate rules apply |
Fully protected — always release: blue ling, spurdog, basking shark, porbeagle, silky shark, European eel (conger eel is fine), lobster carrying external roe.
Partly protected — bluefin tuna: fishing for bluefin tuna is prohibited without a special permit from the Directorate of Fisheries. The minimum size is 115 cm / 30 kg. We hold no such permit, so on our boat it goes back regardless.
Two local rules you need to know
The 100-metre river-mouth zone. Within 100 metres of the mouth of a listed salmon watercourse, all fishing is prohibited — cod and saithe included. Only rod fishing from land, in season, is exempt. Rauma has several such watercourses: Måna, Isa/Glutra, Breivikelva, Hamreelva, Hatleelva and Mittetelva. We stay clear of them; if you fish on your own, you must too. (FOR-2021-03-15-797 §3.)
Salmonid fishing is closed 1 March – 30 April in Møre og Romsdal, from land and from a boat. Outside that window, rod and handline fishing for salmonids in the sea is open all year, and no fishing fee is payable for sea rod fishing.
Outside the quota
Fish you have bought from a registered trader travels outside the quota — keep the receipt. The same goes for fish taken over from a registered commercial vessel against a sales note. Salmon, sea trout, char and freshwater fish you caught yourself are outside the export regulation altogether.
And one thing that often confuses people: the EU's 20 kg limit on fish in personal luggage does not apply to fish from Norway. Article 7(e) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2122 exempts Norwegian goods entirely, with no weight limit. The Norwegian export quota is the only binding number. Note the exemption is about entering the EU — if you route home through a non-EEA country, you leave its protection.
These rules change regularly and this page is not legal advice. Check for yourself before you travel:
- Directorate of Fisheries — export and fish smuggling
- Directorate of Fisheries — minimum sizes in recreational fishing
- Norwegian Customs — fish quota when travelling from Norway
If anything is unclear, ask us. We would rather answer one question too many than one too few.