any info on south of france

[paddyc23]

Hi everyone, im heading to the gulf of leon to martega in the south of france in october november time, has anyone been there before?....Im going to check it out on google earth next but has does anyone know anything about spearfishing in that part of france and the south of france area?...does one need a licence?...types of fish etc?...It would really help me out, thanks

[JPPLAY]

If you speak French head onto a French forum like chasse sous-marine dans le var - spearboy.com there are also several French spearfisherman on www.medfish.com there are past posts there that talk about license requirments.

[trux]

Are you sure you are coming to France? Martega is in Italy, and there is no Gulf of Leon in France. If you rather mean the Gulf of Lion, then it is in the western part of the French Med coast, but I still know no place here with a name ressembling Martega.

If you come to the Gulf of Lion, then be ready for rather cold water - it is the ever coldest place of the Med. Water temperature is usually same as on the French Atlantic coast. In October it usually drops below 15°C rather early, and in November it may be sometimes as low as 10°C. Even in top summer it often happens that the water temperature is just 17°C.

[paddyc23]

golfe du lion, sorry my french is crap , the place is martigue, any info

[trux]

OK, I believe you probably mean Les Martigues - at the delta of Rhone and close to Marseille. That's already a better part of the coast than the rest of the Gulf which is mainly sandy and with bad visibility. I do not know Les Martigues, but suppose it is rather shallow and sandy in that place, but I highly recommend that you take a car or even better a train (very romantic railway! And with a car you'll have problems to enter some of the villages anyway) and go to Niolon or one of the other villages on the coast in the direction to Marseille). The bottom is rocky, and you can get to interesting depth (+20m) immediately. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the French coast. There are even corals, which is rather unusual in this part of Med or in Med in general). Also the water temperatures are much higher here than deep inside the Gulf of Lion. As for spearing, I cannot advise you, but you'll find plenty of threads about spearfishing regulation in France, here on DB. And as anywhere else in the Med, do not expect plenty of big fish. However, since you are located in Spain, you probably know that.

[Virgili]

A good spot is located in front of Carry le Rouet "Rocher de l'âne".
In swimming along the coast to St Croix (West) or to Méjean (East): A lot of of spots ("tombants, dalles, ragues, épaves..").

Spearfishing probably not allowed from Nov 1st to spring...

[octopus]

Yes, you need spearfishing licence. It is not difficult to get it. You can do this in any decent diving club. Rules are pretty much the same as in Spain or Italy. I went in September and I could only buy licence until the end of that year. I do not think they sell licence for a week or a month.
My licence was something like 30 euros. I cannot remember exact price, but it was not too expensive.
You can find price list here:
http://www.ffessm.fr/ffessm/pdf/Tarifs_2007_2008.pdf
Perhaps someone will be so kind to translate this to English/Spanish for you.

[Virgili]

Licence cost is 33 euros (including insurance), one year only.
No scuba, day only, not with torch, no grouper capture...

[paddyc23]

Virgili you said that in france wen you recieve ure licence, no torch, does that mean no torch during day and night?

[Virgili]

Night spearfishing is not allowed. Using a torch by spearfishing during the day is not allowed (for ex. in a cave..).
SF less than 500 feet of a fishing boat or a net is not allowed.
Loading the gun out of the water is forbidden.
Selling the fish is not allowed.