Decree-Law No. 73/2020 approving the legal regime to perform the professional activity of commercial maritime fishing and the authorization, registration and licensing of fishing vessels used in such activity.

The Decree-Law, consisting of 53 articles divided into seven Chapters, approves the legal regime to perform the professional activity of commercial marine fishing and the authorization, registration and licensing of vessels used in such fishing activity. It applies to natural or legal persons who carry out the professional fishing activity: a) In the territorial sea; b) In the Exclusive Economic Zone; c) In maritime inland waters, considering as such the waters located between the natural closing lines of the mouths of rivers, estuaries, lagoons, artificial ports and docks and the straight base lines; d) In non-maritime inland waters, with the exception of waters covered by the legal regime for fishing in inland waters; e) On the high seas and in European Union (EU) waters; f) In the framework of fisheries agreements concluded between the EU and third countries or in the context of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) or similar agreements to which the EU is a contracting party or non-contracting cooperating party. It does not apply to activities carried out on the international sections of the Guadiana and Minho rivers. Fishing activities must comply with the rules and principles set out in the Common Fisheries Policy pursued by the EU.
Chapters are divided as follows: General provisions (Chap. I); Measures for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of marine biological resources (Chap. II); Co-management (Chap. III); Fishing activity and fishing gear (Chap. IV); Ships or vessels (Chap. V); Financial regime (Chap. VI); Complementary, transitional and final provisions (Chap. VII).