Svalbard Living here
What is different on Svalbard: the rules, practices and advice a newcomer needs, from the authorities that set them.
Outside town
Rule
Carry bear protection outside the settlements and know how to use it
Everyone who goes outside inhabited areas must know how to guard against polar bear attack and carry suitable means to scare and drive off a bear. They must also be able to avert an attack without harming the animal. Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard) also recommends carrying a firearm.
Rule
Stay 300 metres from a polar bear, 500 metres from March to June
It is forbidden to disturb, lure or follow a polar bear. Nobody may go or stay within 300 metres of one, and from 1 March to 30 June within 500 metres. If you find one closer, withdraw until the legal distance is restored. The limit does not apply in settlements, cabins or tents.
Rule
No loaded guns in Longyearbyen, and none in shops or public buildings
Carrying a loaded firearm in the Longyearbyen settlement area is forbidden. Carry it so everyone can see it is empty, and do not take it into shops or public buildings. In built-up areas a vital part such as the bolt must be removed when transporting it.
Rule
Residents need a permit to buy a polar bear rifle
To buy a firearm for polar bear protection you need a permit from Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard). You must be at least 18, be in the Svalbard population register, and document sufficient firearms skills. Only bolt-action rifles in .308 or .30-06, or 12-gauge shotguns, are granted. First permit fee: NOK 1,495. Processing takes up to eight weeks.
Rule
Borrowing or renting a rifle needs a permit or a licence
Anyone over 18 with a Norwegian firearms licence or European Firearms Pass can borrow a rifle without applying; others apply to Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard), for a fee of NOK 248, and show firearms skills. Only a licensed dealer may rent out, and only rifles. Pistols and shotguns cannot be rented for bear protection.
Rule
A polar bear rifle cannot go to the mainland with you
The need for polar bear protection ends when you leave Svalbard. If you move away holding a gun bought for that purpose, you must dispose of it or apply to convert it to another use before you leave.
Rule
Flare guns need no permit; pepper spray is banned
Signal pistols, signal pens and tripwire flares need no permit. They may be bought, borrowed or rented as scare devices, but must be kept locked up. Pepper spray and bear spray are banned and will not be approved for bear protection.
Advice
Until you are registered, the field-trip rules for visitors apply
The field-safety regulations treat anyone not in the Svalbard population register as a visitor. A visitor must notify Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard) at least four weeks before a trip outside the travel area (the former management area 10). The visitor must then wait for a reply, and carry rescue insurance.
Rule
Residents must notify before trips into the big protected areas
Registered residents must tell Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard) before travelling in the Sør-Spitsbergen, Forlandet and Nordvest-Spitsbergen national parks or the Søraust-Svalbard, Nordaust-Svalbard, Hopen and Bjørnøya nature reserves. Report afterwards within four weeks.
Rule
Residents need no rescue insurance, but may pay for gross negligence
Permanent residents do not have to carry rescue insurance. They can be held liable for search, rescue or patient-transport costs only if they acted intentionally or with gross negligence. Visitors outside the travel area must hold cover of at least NOK 120,000 to 650,000 per operation, depending on zone.
Rule
Anything human-made from before 1946 is protected
All cultural remains from before 1946, including cabins, mines, trapper sites and graves, are automatically protected, with a 100-metre safety zone. Do not damage, move or take anything. In the zone, pitching a tent or lighting a fire needs permission, except tenting on snow-covered, frozen ground.
Rule
Do not pick plants or take eggs
Nobody may damage or remove flora. Only mushrooms and seaweed for private use are allowed. Egg and eiderdown collecting is possible only with a permit from Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard), and only for eider, glaucous gull and great black-backed gull eggs.
Rule
The whole town lies inside the airport drone ban
Flying a drone within 5 kilometres of the airport is forbidden without tower permission. All of Longyearbyen is inside that zone. Drones are banned in all protected areas and within 500 metres of bird cliffs from 1 April to 31 August.
Rule
Reindeer, arctic fox and net fishing are for residents with a permit
Hunting needs a hunting, trapping or fishing card issued by Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard). You must be 16 for a hunting card. Hunting Svalbard reindeer, hunting or trapping arctic fox, and net-fishing for Arctic char are reserved for permanent residents with a special permit.