This is how the local rules and prices will be changed next year

​At the end of October, the Vas County Association of Sport Fishing Associations held its autumn chairmanship meeting in Vaskeresztes, where, in addition to several agenda items, the most important topics affecting anglers, changes in local fishing regulations and next year's ticket prices were discussed.

Every year, the managers and employees of the Association, seeing the economic processes, prepare detailed calculations and forecasts for the board meeting, from which they try to model the extent to which it is necessary to change the price of regional tickets in the following year. For the leaders of the Association, it is an extremely important goal that the fishing quantities, which have been doubled compared to the situation eight to ten years ago, can be maintained, in order to serve fishing needs as well as possible. The environmental condition of the Association's fishing ponds - thanks to numerous public welfare investments - has undergone an unprecedented development in the last five years, and maintaining and developing these conditions in a way that preserves their condition is also a priority goal.

In the current economic environment, it is obvious to everyone that it is not an easy situation for anyone trying to plan for the year 2023, especially in a sector where weather factors directly and indirectly affect the management of organizations so drastically. The most significant basic problem in the fish farming sector is still the fact that the price of feed increased by an average of around 75 percent in the past year, which accounts for 40-45 percent of fish production costs. The table below clearly shows the dynamic increase in feed costs, which has a strong impact on the rise in fish prices.

In addition to the increase in crop prices caused by external economic conditions, the drought causes another almost intractable problem. As a result of the drought, by the end of August this year, MOHOSZ recorded a total of 120 bodies of water that had either completely dried up, or, if there was some water left in them, the fish population had completely died because the living conditions were not available. Forced fishing was also held in several places, and due to the lack of water, production in fish production facilities dropped by around 30-40 percent this year . Unlike other agricultural sectors, Hungarian fish production does not receive any kind of damage mitigation. They do not receive compensation for drought damage or flood damage, but they cannot apply for area-based support either. As can be clearly seen in the following data series, the purchase value of our association's largest expenditure fish (carp) has exceeded 80% this fall compared to January 2021 (1523 HUF/kg - September 2022 / HUF 835/kg - January 2021 ), and based on producer negotiations, even in the most ideal situation next spring, a kg of carp can be HUF 1,700-1,800 gross/kg.

In addition to carp, the price of bream has unfortunately reached HUF 1,200/kg, and the price of predatory fish (pike, perch), which are very popular among fishermen but almost impossible to obtain, ranges between HUF 4,500-6,500/kg.

In addition to these difficulties, transportation costs closely related to fish farming and fuel costs, which are also necessary for the performance of fish conservation tasks, have also almost doubled in the past period with the abolition of official prices, in which no positive change is expected next year either. The situation is further compounded by the fact that other operating, energy and raw material costs related to fishing services, waterside maintenance, and the implementation of events have also increased by 25-40 percent due to general inflationary processes.

Due to the above, the leaders and bodies of the Association were not in an easy situation this year in determining the ticket prices either, because the changes experienced in the last year and a half present unprecedented challenges both nationally and locally to the entire fish farming industry. In the water areas under the management of the Association, in accordance with the national goals, the main goal is to broadly ensure the possibility of fishing and to maintain the functionality of the fish management system.

The provision of the services provided by the Association at the current level, or very close to it, can unfortunately only be achieved with a 30% increase in regional ticket prices, even with cost-saving measures. It was also said at the board meeting that the leaders of the association would be most happy if such a price increase did not have to be implemented, but this has now become inevitable, and there is still a lot of uncertainty about the future. Due to the drastically increased fish prices, in parallel with the increase in local ticket prices, the fishing organizations in our country are reducing the daily and annual quantities that can be taken in several water areas. In the case of iron waters, the Association's presidency did not consider it justified that the quantities of fish kept should be reduced in parallel with the rising ticket prices, so there will be no significant change compared to this year.

In addition to several minor clarifications, there will be one major change in the fishing regulations valid from January 1, 2023 following the decisions of the board meeting. The upper size limit of 60 cm for carp will be reduced to 50 cm in both federal standing waters and rivers, which was justified by the introduction of 10 tons of extra-sized carp - between 6-8 kg - placed during the year.

Based on the amount of fish that can be kept with our regional tickets to be issued in 2023 and the number of fishable water areas, even after the increase, our ticket prices will remain one of the most favorable in regional and national comparisons. The price of our best-selling ticket, the annual Vas county adult area permit, will change from HUF 51,500 to HUF 67,000, while the "3 lakes + rivers ticket" will go from HUF 45,500 to HUF 60,000. ( The full ticket price list for 2023 is available here! ) For the benefit of adult anglers in a more difficult financial situation, it is possible to purchase next year's area license in two or three installments, and anglers can choose from nearly forty types of fishing tickets. Single-rod fishing licenses for children, youth and beneficiaries (full-time student of an educational institution, fisherman's wife, anglers over 70 and disabled) are still significantly cheaper than the price of general adult licenses.

It is important to draw attention to the fact that the Association will once again hold its traditional annual regional ticket sale until January 31, 2023. Those who redeem their annual license in January can redeem their regional fishing license for individual adults with a HUF 3,000 discount. Area tickets valid for the year 2023 can still be purchased with the SZÉP Card at the Fishing Tourism Center of the Federation in Vaskeresztes or online.

The Association is confident that fellow anglers will stick with its well-organized and continuously developing waterfronts, as well as its fishing waters, which they hope offer better and better fishing opportunities, and will continue to support the iron waters with their ticket exchange.

The photos shown in the article were taken by the following photographers:

Zsolt Máthé, Gyula Filakovszky, Milán Kiss, Zoltán Bihari, Veronika Zsuzsanna Jáger, Balázs Szekeres, Károly Sipos, Benjamin Seregi

Downloadable Documents

• 2023. január 01-től érvényes engedély árak, díjak (539.45 KB, PDF)
• 2023. január 01-től érvényes horgászrend módosítások (332.57 KB, PDF)