Anyone know what the deal is ?
Are they for sale yet, where, how much ?
I was on the phone with 3 different agencies today and no one could give me an answer.
One noaa agent tells me I don't need one because I hold a HMS charter/head boat permit, other agencies tell me 2 other different stories.

Here is a link Department of Fish & Game - Licensing (http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/licensing/index.htm)

Went to that page and only option is the $10 rec lic. I'm charter.
The phone number listed there with questions is one of the numbers I called today.

Very confusing Ronnie.

I wonder thou even since you are charter cat you may still have to get one anyway. Say if you go fishing for fun on someone elses non charter boat????? Since your not on the R Nation you may not be covered. They get ya coming and going.

Still lots of questions to get worked out. Talking with a few guys the rumor is this year it won't be enforced too hard since no one can understand the rules fully yet. Who knows.

Beamie is right. I asked an EPO about that. I asked: Say you have a comm lic and/or a charter lic. Do you still need to get one?

Ans. If you go rec fishing and it is not a charter or comm trip YES!:wall:

Sandman,

That brings up yet another question. I'd say as long as you are on YOUR charter boat whether it is a charter or not you'd be all set. This is where you run into the OPINION of the enforcing officer.

For instance, Tuna HMS wise I am in the charter/headboat catagory so I can either fish Giants or recreational. I don't charter....yet....but I have a license.....I am on my own private charter..... When charter guys go tuna fishing/hms for fun and it is not a charter they are covered both ways.

The only requirement for that license was that a licensed captain be onboard. Said nothing about whether it is a for hire trip.

Wonder how this new state license will be interpreted.

Just don't give them any more bright ideas.
Pretty soon they'll find ways of taxing and fining every aspect of fishing to the point that you won't want to deal with it.
Maybe they'll lavy a tax on things like the number of fish that you WOULD have caught had you actually went fishing, or since you caught X many keepers last year/season, you should pay X amount for a license this year, but you would NEVER pay less than any prior year.
How's that for a future of the recreational/commercial licensing BS?

This is from the FAQ section of the MA DMF website.

Does my for-hire permit allow me to fish recreationally in salt water when not involved in for-hire activity?
Yes, it does cover you as an individual angler provided that the for-hire permit is issued in your name. You must have the for-hire permit in your possession.

If I have a Highly Migratory Species permit am I exempt from the MA permit?
If you are finfishing exclusively in federal waters and possess an HMS permit, you do not need a MA permit as long as you do not land any fish in Massachusetts. If you retain fish and bring them back into MA state waters, or you fish in state waters, then you will need the MA permit.

Do I need to sign up for the National Saltwater Angler Registry as I did in 2010 (and pay an additional $15 starting in 2011)?
No, the Federal permit no longer covers you to fish in Massachusetts waters. Your MA permit allows you to fish in MA and Federal waters as well as land your fish in Massachusetts. However, if you fish for tuna, billfish, swordfish, and/or sharks you will need a Highly Migratory Species permit from the Federal government.

...tedious!

Just don't give them any more bright ideas.
Pretty soon they'll find ways of taxing and fining every aspect of fishing to the point that you won't want to deal with it.
Maybe they'll lavy a tax on things like the number of fish that you WOULD have caught had you actually went fishing, or since you caught X many keepers last year/season, you should pay X amount for a license this year, but you would NEVER pay less than any prior year.
How's that for a future of the recreational/commercial licensing BS?

Nail on the head......:smash:

They had a booth at the boat show, stopped by it yesterday and ask them what the fee was for a charter boat as your passengers do not need a license. The fee is $65 for Charter vessels and covers everybody on board, the women told me they sent out the info to charter boats about 3 weeks ago, I told her we never got that information so she put me on a list to send out this week. I did grab some of the recreational permit forms as we also surf fish so we will be covered either way.

Bottom of the rec saltwater license form say you can get it online at
Http://www.mass.gov.massfishhunt

Hope this helps!!!

Bottom of the rec saltwater license form say you can get it online at
Http://www.mass.gov.massfishhunt

Hope this helps!!!


checked that link and it didn't take you there to massfishhunt
but this one does

https://www.ma.wildlifelicense.com/Customer/InternetCustomerSearch

This info is correct.
What was our $10 charter Permit on our DMF state boat permit is now a separate permit costing $65, but it makes no mention of it as a salt water fishing lic.
I and a lot of other guys thought they just raised the charter permit fee from $10 to $65 (just like they raise everything other fee in this state)
Got a Stellwagen charter boat association meeting tomorrow night, spoke with the secretary last week and they plan to go over this and explain it in detail.
I'll pass along that info later in the week.






They had a booth at the boat show, stopped by it yesterday and ask them what the fee was for a charter boat as your passengers do not need a license. The fee is $65 for Charter vessels and covers everybody on board, the women told me they sent out the info to charter boats about 3 weeks ago, I told her we never got that information so she put me on a list to send out this week. I did grab some of the recreational permit forms as we also surf fish so we will be covered either way.

Bottom of the rec saltwater license form say you can get it online at
Http://www.mass.gov.massfishhunt

Hope this helps!!!

Just another way the state has found to extract more $$$$$$$$$$ from us. Bull$hit if you ask me.

Just another way the state has found to extract more $$$$$$$$$$ from us. Bull$hit if you ask me.



Actually Matt I'm kind of feeling like we got off easy.
We had a $10 permit to charter.
For the last year been hearing word of this salt water costing us charters $125, $150, and as much as $250, plus we also have to get the $10 rec lic should we go on a friends boat or fish from the surf.
I guess an increase of $55 we got off easy..
Hope no one from the dmf reads this and gets any ideas ! :smash:

I think we should all be able to fish for free in the ocean. 10 or 100 it should still be free in my mind. I guess through the eyes of a charter captain it would look like you did get off easy. And you guys should. It is tough enough to make a living on the water with all the regs, fuel prices, etc. etc.

FL is like 7 or 8 bucks a day. 1o for the season, I'm in. but I agree with you they already tax us enough.

$10 + $1.85 Convenience fee = $11.85??

Its not a convenience to me!!!:fury:

I say all boycott getting a lic, what they going to do, jail us all?

Let's face it, 12 bucks is not a lot of money in the face of 4-5 buck fuel this summer. But it is the point of the matter.

Saltwater fishing has been a right for everyone and now it is not. Thank you Obama Admin. (I don't want to hear your pro Obama whining)

Many people will not have a lic and claim ignorance and past history and there will be very few summons written for no lic.

Let's face it, 12 bucks is not a lot of money in the face of 4-5 buck fuel this summer. But it is the point of the matter.

Saltwater fishing has been a right for everyone and now it is not. Thank you Obama Admin. (I don't want to hear your pro Obama whining)

Many people will not have a lic and claim ignorance and past history and there will be very few summons written for no lic.

I agree. I paid for mine last week and by the time I'm fishing, I'll have forgotten that I had to pay for it. My big problem with paying for saltwater fishing is where the funds are allocated. If they were used for improving access or building fishing piers, etc... I have no problem with paying. Heck, if the money went to improving access for anglers, I'd gladly pay more than $12. It's a shame in MA (and RI for that matter) that there are so few places for people with limited physical mobility to fish from shore. In Florida they use license fees to make fishing more accessible to people, while here we pay but have less access.

The way the web site is set up it is easy to select "$10 saltwater fishing donation" instead of " $10 saltwater fishing license" . The only way you can "undo" this is to cancel the entire transaction you can not edit your cart.

You should not be begging for donations (in the same amount as the lic) on the same page as paying for a mandatory lic. This state is just in-your-face-rude.

Oh, and yes you have a convenience fee on the donation as well.

Fishbones--Let me know when you got it all figured out. You should have plenty of time on your hands to fight with MADMF since your big toe will not be able to fit in a wading boot until September!

Fishbones--Let me know when you got it all figured out. You should have plenty of time on your hands to fight with MADMF since your big toe will not be able to fit in a wading boot until September!

I guess I'll just have to fish from the yak. Wanna join me on the bay this spring?:devil2:

I'd gladly pay more than $12. It's a shame in MA (and RI for that matter) that there are so few places for people with limited physical mobility to fish from shore.

To that end....After 3 years of fighting the system, this fall the state got approval to build a dedicated fishing pier in Oak Bluffs (next to the ferry dock). The town was initially against it but enough fishermen came out in force and pressured the decision makers to finally see the good in this. It has a budget up to a million bucks...just for fishermen. It will be open 24/7 and have handicap and children access areas and a bathroom nearby. This money came from the states existing fishing access budget. Oh...and after lots of discussion...it will be free.

The state of MA actually has a good number public fishing access points and is looking forward to expanding them 1 or 2 per year. More is definitely better.

This lic though does nothing to improving access. It goes to producing a list of names and phone numbers of fishermen that will then be disturbed during the dinner hour to ask how they did fishing. And to support the website (that already existed)

This lic though does nothing to improving access. It goes to producing a list of names and phone numbers of fishermen will then be disturbed during the dinner hour to ask how they did fishing. And to support the website (that already existed)

That's my problem with the money the state collects. We already pay taxes that should be used for that. I may be wrong, but it seems that there are less and less places for people to fish from shore in MA each year. Parking lots are closed, fences are put up, etc... It's a shame because there's a lot of money generated by fishermen that goes to the state besides the license fees.

And that's great news about the pier in Oak Bluffs. It's too bad there aren't more towns looking into fishing piers.

To that end....After 3 years of fighting the system, this fall the state got approval to build a dedicated fishing pier in Oak Bluffs (next to the ferry dock). The town was initially against it but enough fishermen came out in force and pressured the decision makers to finally see the good in this. It has a budget up to a million bucks...just for fishermen. It will be open 24/7 and have handicap and children access areas and a bathroom nearby. This money came from the states existing fishing access budget. Oh...and after lots of discussion...it will be free.

The state of MA actually has a good number public fishing access points and is looking forward to expanding them 1 or 2 per year. More is definitely better.

This lic though does nothing to improving access. It goes to producing a list of names and phone numbers of fishermen that will then be disturbed during the dinner hour to ask how they did fishing. And to support the website (that already existed)

I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the fishing pier is being paid for by federal money from the excise taxes we pay on our fishing equipment.

I thought it was too but I specifically asked that very question and the response I got back was that it was not from the excise tax.