The amendments introduced by Regulation 2023/2842 of 22 November to Regulation 1224/2009 of 20 November, and with the publication of Implementing Regulation No. 2025/274 of 12 February, a new set of obligations for recreational fishing was introduced, to enter into force on 10 January 2026, namely the obligation for Member States (MS) to implement an effective catch control system, ensuring the registration of individuals engaged in recreational fishing and reporting their daily catches through an electronic system, with regard to species that are subject to Union conservation measures specifically applicable to recreational fishing, such as quotas, catch limits and bag limits, and which, at the time, in the national case, applies to the following species: common sea bass, bluefin tuna, blue marlin, white marlin and black marlin.

To comply with the aforementioned, the European Commission (EC) has developed an electronic application for mobile phones – the RecFishing App, which will be available for download in app stores from January 2026. Portugal has opted to use this application.

More information about this app can be found in the FAQs provided for this purpose.