Marine Fisheries Act.

The Act consists of 92 articles divided into 12 Parts, i.e. General Provisions (1); Commercial Fishing (2); Small-Scale Fishing (3); Sport and Recreational Fishing (4); Rearing (5); Fishing Fee (6); Protection of Fish and Other Marine Organisms (7); Data on Fishing and Rearing (8); Legal and Inspection Surveilance (9); Particular Provisions (10); Provisions on Penalties and Offences (11) and Transitional and Final Provisions (12).
The purpose of this Act is the protection of marine water and mariculture, fishing and fish farming as well as other marine organisms in Croatian marine waters. Part 1 gives the definition of terms regarding marine fisheries, such as fishing, commercial fishing, small scale fishing, rearing, fishing vessels, fishing equipment, marine waters, fishing zone, fishing licence, etc. The Act contains all requirements necessary for commercial fishing such as applications for licences, duties and rights of the licence holder, registration of fishing vessels, permitted equipment for fishing as well as different allowed fishing methods and requisites for fishermen's qualifications. It also establishes requirements for obtaining a licence for small scale fishing and specifies conditions attached to such licence. The licence holder must be a citizen of Croatia and he or she shall fish for personal use only. Farming of marine species shall be subject to licence which shall be issued by the competent authority. All procedures regarding the registration of commercial, artisanal fishing and marine farming are to be prescribed by the Minister for Marine Fisheries. The Act sets out powers and duties of fisheries inspectors. The supervision of this Act is entrusted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.