Fishing with Out a License - Fines
 

Does anyone know what the fines are for fishing without the new Salt Water License? a buddy and I are trying to scare someone we know straight :smash:

There is no fine.

they should allow tackle shops to sell the lic and make the "convenience fee". From what I have heard...most newbies come in see something about a lic and ask about it to see if they can buy it right there and then hear they have to buy it on line or over the phone and leave saying...I'll take my chances.

This entire sw lic thing is like everything else the fishery dept does... it is not well thought out.

I've seen a few people caught without a license, fishing off the rocks. They have been sent home and told they need to buy one, but I have not seen anyone get a fine or summons. Maybe next year they will start to enforce the law, but as of now, it hasn't been well advertised.

As I said there is no fine.
I got stopped about a month ago on the way back into downtown Boston dropping a charter off.
They just came up beside me and asked a few questions, no problems.
I also asked them a few questions (that being one) they said they don't fine anyone because they don't know or have an amount set.
All they can do is stop you from fishing and make sure you go on your way.

On the way back out I tracked them down again to ask a few more questions.
We had 14 fish worth of fillets with us (as allowed with our charter)
I dropped my clients off at the fed court house in boston.
These guys were all from either out of the country or state and were flying out later. I planned to vacuum seal all fillets, put in my freezer for 4-5 days then over night ship to one of the guys (you don't want to know what that cost)
Now I had myself, mate & 28 fillets on my boat.
I asked the guys what happens if I got boarded now ?
"we've never run across that before"

seems to be the same story ,everyone i speak with says the same.just warnings so far.expect fines to follow:fury:

The people that chartered your boat are covered under your charter license fee which is about 65 bucks your cost. They did not need a license while on your charter boat unless you do not have that 65 dollar indorement.

All set on my permit,
My point they don't know.
Also didn't know or had never run into a situation that I presented them with 28 fillets and just 2 people aboard after dropping off my charter , technically I'm in violation !

you would need a photo of the group
that has a date stamp on it

Thanks for the information guys...

I think there is a $10 fine in RI

Ronnie does bring up a good point.

To go further with that point.....what if it wasn't a charter, just plain recs and at the time you were fishing you had 5 guys on the boat, kept 10 fish but then dropped 2 of your kids friends off back at thier boat/dock and your going home to filet fish.....it was all legal when you were fishing. Leaves allot of this to the disgrestion of the EPO.

I guess the answer is to take pics with the date stamp.....s*cks to have to worry about nimor things like this......

Just make sure the guys you drop off take their fish with them. If they don't then you're illegal and you'll have to live with the consequences.

A charter capt in Newport has gotten caught twice w/ 3 fish. of course he claimed the charter decided they didn't want them at the last minute or some such story... (of course he was selling them to a kitchen through the backdoor.... :smash:)

Whoever is in charge of this new saltwater license fustercluck has done a piss-poor job of pre-and post enactment notification to the public.
They make it increasingly more difficult to do the right thing, and haven't developed any meaningful method of enforcing the rules, which NOBODY knows about.
When the people that are paid to enforce the saltwater fishing regulations don't know all the rules that will apply, and aren't citing those that break them, them what exactly are we paying $10.00 for?

It would seem logical to me (and to almost everyone else on this site) that before you institute a new licensing scheme, that you would at least have a set of rules/laws and fines that the license would be governed by. But of course, we're talking Mass here, and they're first concern is the $$ and not the laws.

Maybe we can hope that someone can tell/show us where the saltwater license money is going to? Once again, this is Mass, and hope is all we can do!

i don't think there is any question here. whatever the circumstances, 2 people with 28 fillets and you illegal and you are taking a risk. i don't think a time stamp picture, or the fact they saw you earlier matters. the rule is very clear. In theory you may be able to talk your way out of it, but these guys hear a lot of excuses, and some times even legitimate excuses still sound like excuses....

Mike,
So how do I package, freeze & shipe to them if they take it with them ?
I'm sure this goes on all the time all over the country where clients fly in & out.
I brought this up as an example that the environmentals don't have an answer for everything.

I have a mass state charter license on the boat. What if my old man is running my boat with family. Does the charter license still cover them?

you have to unload the fish with the people. It is pretty cut and dry. once the people get off and you leave with the fish, you are no longer legal. like it or not, that is the law. its not that the epo doesn't have an answer, its that they are not understanding their own laws.

are there a lot of charters where they unload the fish & clients at different locations? Even if you fly in, normally there is some transportation to the home dock of the charter.

Options:

Continue doing as you do... odds of getting caught are slim, and chances you could talk your way out are high.

No longer offer the service freezing/shipping fish.

Make all sports depart from your dock (maybe provide car service to BOS or something).

Have someone meet you at the passenger drop off to take the fish.

Drop fish at your dock first, then go drop customers.

I'm sure you could come up with something else, this is just off the top of my head.

Look at it this way, if you could somehow find a loophole that allowed you to take 14 fish around in your boat after you drop people off, then what would stop people (bad guys) from just using that loophole to take 14 fish for themselves. EXAMPLE: Charter in the morning, take some pics then send them on their way, then go out and get yourself 14 more fish.... when you get stopped--- "hey, i had a charter on, they left but I am still holding their fish... want to see a picture from this morning?" You see how easily it could be abused?


If it were me, I would personally just continue taking the (minor) risk and do as you have been doing. But I would understand that there is really no grey area here.

I'm not really worried about getting caught.
At the cost ($250 Fed ex overnight + $150 I charged for my time) it's not like we do it that often. Not many people going to shell out $400 to ship after shelling out $950 for the charter
We take pics usually at end of trips before cutting up fish..
And the fact the enviros know us from seeing us out there enough.
As I said I brought this up just to show some situations they don't have the answers.

Nope.
this is for the captain and "paying" charters only. Does not cover the mate, your dad, your kids, wife or anyone who is not paying.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Charge them all 10 cents each....20 cents for the wife.......then they are all paying....

A seemingly similar scenario to the situation of dropping off the customers and being left with 14 fish is somewhat similar to the old challenge when crossing state waters - CT into NY and then back to CT ... when the size limits in CT were different than NY.

A legal fish caught in NY waters were not legal in CT waters ... and even though they may have been caught legal, there was no way to prove they were caught in NY if stopped in CT waters ... so had to go with the largest to avoid challenges ... but sounds similar

I tell charters..."Keep only what you can take"

We can always practice catch and release and just as much fun.
Take pictures.