What to fish ?

→ Totally protected species

→ The European eel, critically in danger species

→ The minimum catching sizes

→ The maximum number of shots that can be stored

Totally protected species

Fishing some species is totally forbidden in Wallonia !

This is the case of :

Asp	Bitterling	Sturgeon
European flounder	European river lamprey	Sea lamprey
Spined loach	Weatherfish	Burbot
Ocean trout	Atlantic salmon	Redclaw

The European eel, critically in danger species

Since June 15th 2006, every eel caught must be returned to the water regardless of its length. This arrangement is motivated by the food security following the analyzes carried out and revealing a too high rate of PCB's in the flesh of eels.

The minimum catching sizes

For other species fishing is authorized but…

…only during the opening periods, and the captured of these species is submitted to a regulation. Certain fish hand all the crawfish must be immediately returned to the water if their length is inferior to :

for pike jack	for pike perch	for barbell
for grayling	for the carp, the tench, the chub, the orfe and the nase carp	for the brown trout*, the rainbow trout, brook charr and the whitefish
for the perch No sizes are applicable to the Brabant and Hainaut channels and the Nisramont lake	for the rudd	80 cm for the catfish

*ATTENTION, in the navigable watercourses and the channels, the length for the brown trout is elevated to 24 cm.

Code of Practice

Handle your captures with sensitivity and wet your hands first. If the fish has swallowed the bait too deeply, cut the line.

The length is measured:

For fish: from the mouth tip to the tailfin tip

For crayfish: from the eye to the tip of the stretched tail.

As such, during the fishery it is forbidden to keep fish or crayfish whose head or tail have been cut.

The maximum number of shots that can be stored

The fisherman must not keep in a fishing day more than a certain number of fish :

Code of Practice

If you don’t intend to catch your fish, no need to keep it in a basket, returned it into the water directly, it guaranteed a better survival of your catch.

You’ll also be interest by :     

→ The Walloon fishing license

→ The opening fishing periods in Wallonia

→ How to recognize the fishes in Wallonia

→ Fishing crayfish in Wallonia

→ Allowed equipment and techniques

→ Listen to the sequence “Allo the fisherman, is fishing simple?”

Downloadings

→ Download the brochure « Fishing is simple » (pdf file - 600 Ko)

→ Download the memory aid edited by the Walloon Public Service (pdf file - 1,3 Mo)

→ Consult the officious coordination (pdf file - 100 Ko) 

Links

→ Surf on http://wallex.wallonie.be to obtain the complete legislation about fishing in Wallonia 

(Thematic access – Nature and Woods – Fishing)