Asturias sets one hundred licenses and thirty business days for the 2026/2027 baby eel season

The Principality of Asturias has regulated the 2026/2027 glass eel fishing season through the Order of October 14, 2026, from the Department of Rural Environment and Agricultural Policy, signed by the counselor Marcelino Marcos Líndez. The regulation, published in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA) no. 203 of October 20, 2026, under reference 2026-08479, establishes five fishing zones, one hundred shore-based licenses, 32 vessels in the Nalón estuary, and a calendar of thirty business days. The order enters into force on the day of its publication and exhausts all administrative remedies.

The regulation implements Decree 92/1984, which approves the Glass Eel Fishing Regulations in inland waters, and Article 7 of the Principality of Asturias Law 2/1993, which enables annual plans to determine extractive capacity based on the evolution of the resource. The plan is developed by the Directorate General of Maritime Fisheries in agreement with the managing guilds and takes into account Regulation (EC) No 1100/2007 on the recovery of the European eel, and Council Regulation (EU) 2026/249 of January 26, 2026, which sets the fishing opportunities for 2026, 2027, and 2028.

Five fishing zones and their managing guilds

The plan divides the coastline into five demarcations, with exclusive membership to a single zone except for the beaches of San Pedro de la Ribera and Los Quebrantos, where shore-based license holders from the Nalón estuary may also operate:

• Nalón Estuary: estuary and mouth; guilds of Cudillero and San Juan de la Arena.
• East: from the Libardón river (La Griega beach) to the Purón river; guilds of Llanes and Ribadesella.
• Tinamayor Estuary: Asturian part of the estuary, Cabra river, and La Franca beach; guild of Bustio.
• West: from the Eo estuary to San Pedro de la Ribera beach (Esqueiro river).
• Center: from San Pedro de la Ribera to the Libardón river, excluding the Nalón estuary.

The Deva river basin, to which the Tinamayor estuary belongs, is managed in cooperation with the Autonomous Community of Cantabria, whose professional licenses are valid in that area.

One hundred shore-based licenses and 32 vessels

Only renewals are permitted. The maximum distribution of shore-based glass eel licenses is 13 in the West, 16 in the Center, 34 in the East, 8 in Tinamayor, and 29 in the Nalón estuary. In zones with managing guilds, 85% of the slots are reserved for professionals from those guilds and 15% for others.

In the Nalón estuary, 32 vessels are authorized, with a distribution of 90% for the managing guilds and the remaining 10% for others. They must be registered on the 3rd list and must not exceed a total length of 9 meters or 75 HP, with the exception of those who can prove they have fished in previous campaigns. The vessels shall carry GPS/GPRS provided by the Fisheries Experimentation Center (CEP) and must admit observers on board.

Thirty business days between November and February

The order declares a closed season from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, although the exception in Article 14.7 of Regulation (EU) 2026/249 allows fishing for thirty non-consecutive days during the main migration:

• From 18:00 on November 5 to 18:00 on November 13, 2026 (eight days).
• From 18:00 on December 5 to 18:00 on December 13, 2026 (eight days).
• From 18:00 on January 4 to 18:00 on January 11, 2027 (seven days).
• From 18:00 on February 3 to 18:00 on February 10, 2027 (seven days).

Alternative days may be authorized, even in March, due to meteorological causes or flooding, following notification by the guilds 48 hours in advance and without increasing the fishing effort.

Sieve, logbooks, and ban on recreational fishing

The only authorized gear is the sieve (cedazo), with a maximum size of 200 by 60 centimeters from the vessel. Daily weighing will be carried out individually at the guilds of San Juan de la Arena, Cudillero, Llanes, Ribadesella, and Bustio, or at the fish markets of the Western and Central zones. Fishermen will record the day, hours, zone, weight of live and dead glass eels, and the selling guild in CEP logbooks, which must be submitted on January 10 (for November and December) and April 10 (for January to March); their submission is a requirement for license renewal. The regulation also prohibits the recreational fishing of glass eels and European eels (Anguilla anguilla) in inland waters.

The order affects around a hundred individual license holders, the fleets of the Nalón estuary, and the fish markets and guilds of the west and the Deva, which face the campaign with closed quotas and reinforced control of catches. An administrative appeal may be filed against the resolution before the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Asturias within two months.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias, no. 203 of October 20, 2026, section I (Other Provisions), pp. 1-4 (official reference: 2026-08479).