This is the official date to electronically declare recreational fishing captures

The Fishing General Secretariat has announced that, from January 10th, 2026, all recreational fishmongers must register and notify their captures through the new mobile app PescaREC, developed by the Agriculture, Fishing and Alimentation Ministry.

The measure answers to the apliccation of the 2023/2842 (UE) Law, which modifies the 1224/2009 (EC) Law and aims to reinforced control and tracking of maritime recreational fishing. According to the statement, every fishmonger must declare the captured species daily, the reatined ones as well as the ones returned to the sea, and even informing if no capture has been obtained.

The obligation will especially affect species under differentiated protection measures and those included in multiannual plans or subjected to disembarking obligation, for which recreational fishing has a significant impact in death by fishing.

The app PescaREC, available on Google Play and App Store, will allow carrying out these declarations easily. In addition, it will be the only way to ask for especific authorizations to capture protected species such as red tuna, and to do other fishing notices. Te tool will also offer useful information to the user, such as minimum sizes, prohibited species lists or fisheries' closures notices. 

To use PescaREC it will be necessary to have a recreational maritime fishing licence in force, casted by an autonomic community or city. Even though its use is mandatory for captures in exterior waters, autonomies will be able to authorize it too for interior waters.

The Fishing General Secretariat has advanced that in the following weeks a new national la that wil explain the procedures and obligations of this measure will be posted. In addition, specific instructions will be developed and updated information will be offered in MAPA's web.

The release, electronically signed by Juan Antonio Agüero Monedero, deputy director of Control and Inspection and Fight against Illegal Fishing, urges on spreading this information between associations, federations and users of the sector of recreational fishing to ensure the fulfillment of this new law.