Recreational raor fishing to start a day earlier in Mallorca and Menorca’s inland waters

This exceptional modification was approved by the Co-Management Commission of Recreational Fishing of the Balearic Islands, following a proposal from the sector that supplies gear for raor fishing. The goal is to support traditional recreational fishing activities.

The season will start this Sunday, August 31st, to make it easier to stock shrimp used as bait for raor fishing on the first day of the season. At the request of the island councils of Ibiza and Formentera, in the Pitiusas the start date remains September 1.

The Balearic Government, through the Directorate-General of Fisheries, reports that, according to the Order recently published in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB), this year, raor fishing (Xyrichtys novacula) in the inland waters of Mallorca and Menorca will start on Sunday, August 31, 2025 — one day earlier than usual. The Director-General of Fisheries, Antoni M. Grau, explained that “this exceptional modification was approved during the second meeting of the Co-Management Commission of Recreational Fishing of the Balearic Islands, following a proposal from the sector that supplies fishing materials for raor. The goal is to promote traditional recreational fishing and also to make it easier to obtain shrimp bait for the first day of the season.” Grau emphasized that this measure applies exclusively to inland waters of Mallorca and Menorca and does not affect Ibiza, Formentera, or external waters of the Balearic territory, where the official start date remains September 1. The Pitiusas islands requested to keep the original date.

This exception only applies in years, such as 2025, when the first official day of fishing, September 1st, falls on a Monday. “This measure does not pose a risk to the sustainability of the resource, which is in an excellent state of conservation,” said Grau.

The Government reminds all anglers that they must respect the maximum catch limit of 50 raors per person per day to ensure the continuity and sustainability of this traditional fishery. Despite the generally responsible behavior of recreational fishers during the closed season, the fisheries inspection service has increased its monitoring in raor fishing areas to control illegal fishing and penalize offenders. Violating the closed season is classified as a serious infraction under fishing regulations, carrying a minimum fine of €151 per fish, which can add up to significant amounts depending on the circumstances.

It is also important to note that in marine reserve areas, catches must be recorded and reported to the Marine Resources Service of the Government, preferably through the Diari de Pesca mobile app. Based on data collected since 2019 (5,400 declarations), raor fishing accounts for 12% of the effort and 15.7% of the annual catch (in kilograms) of boat-based recreational fishing in the Balearic Islands.

Since the establishment of the closed season in 2000, raor sizes have progressively recovered across the islands, and since 2013, the average size has consistently surpassed the levels recorded in 1994. In the most recent season, the average size of raors studied directly by the Government in Mallorca was 162 mm, 34% larger than in 1999 (124 mm). In terms of weight, the average raor in 2024 weighed 58 grams — double the 26 grams recorded in 1999, the year before the fishing ban was introduced. “For the upcoming season, we expect results similar to those of 2024, although it is unlikely they will improve significantly, as the average size of raors is close to its biological limit of around 180 mm, a size found only in no-fishing zones,” Grau added.

The purpose of the raor closed season is to prevent the capture of this fish during its breeding period. Recent studies by the Marine Research and Aquaculture Laboratory (LIMIA) and the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA) have confirmed that the measure has supported population recovery, increasing both the abundance and the average size of the species.