Cruising West Coast Do I need a fishing license?

[newhaul]

We are talking sustance fishing here. Catch clean consume.

[jmschmidt]

As buzzstar points out the US has not signed the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, let alone have it ratified by the US Senate. So the only legally enforceable limit by a US state or state agency is probably the old 3-mile limit which was recognized for centuries. But of course the US Coast Guard has jurisdiction over US vessels everywhere on the high seas or territorial waters and over foreign vessels under certain conditions. To their credit the US Coast Guard refuses to enforce silly local laws that have nothing to do with safety at sea.

George Bush, the elder, proclaimed the first 12-mile limit to scare off the Soviet intelligence trawler which for years was anchored about 100 yards beyond the 3-mile limit on the centerline of the Pearl Harbor channel at Honolulu. The Hawaii Air National Guard guys regularly buzzed it at low level with their jets. Minutes after Bush made his proclamation the trawler left and never returned. There was no legal teeth to his proclamation but the Soviets didn't want to test him. Since then several countries have made similar proclamations. The Soviets placed a 25-mile line along their Pacific Coast. A navigational error by Korean Air violated it and they were shot down. Out intel flight do not violate it. Libya's Gadhafi did the same but we bombed him anyway.

[Madwand]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

probably the old 3-mile limit

Probably? Fail.

[Santana2]

Fishing licenses are not cheap, ESPECIALLY for out of state fishermen. I can't see buying a license, and may not even catch a fish and especially if I am only a few hours to be in Oregon water, and then the same thing applies. Ok mate, wake me when we get to to Calif.
Is that really a WA fish, maybe it belongs to Mexico?

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by newhaul

We are talking sustance fishing here. Catch clean consume.

What difference does that make in California? It does not, except the commercial restrictions might be greater. Three miles or less from shore (including islands) you are in California waters (or Washington, etc, even Louisiana, and subject to their authority. If you have fish gear, but it is not in use, that is OK. If it is in use, you need a license. If you have fish aboard, and it is legal species, you'd better have a license of a receipt from a commercial seller. If it is not a legal species, you may have difficulty unless you can show it was acquired legally all the way.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

What difference does that make in California? It does not, except the commercial restrictions might be greater. Three miles or less from shore (including islands) you are in California waters (or Washington, etc, even Louisiana, and subject to their authority. If you have fish gear, but it is not in use, that is OK. If it is in use, you need a license. If you have fish aboard, and it is legal species, you'd better have a license of a receipt from a commercial seller. If it is not a legal species, you may have difficulty unless you can show it was acquired legally all the way.

We are not talking commercial fishing. In Washington I have dug clams in front of a game warden then got into my tender and returned to my sailboat. Same shucking oysters. Never asked if I had a license heck they just wave and say hi.

[Cheechako]

My guess is fisheries enforcement has no inclination to go out miles and further more check a sailboat passing through. Not enough bang for the enforcement $ for sure. USCG is not going to enforce or consider state fishing control or licenses.

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by Santana2

Fishing licenses are not cheap, ESPECIALLY for out of state fishermen. I can't see buying a license, and may not even catch a fish and especially if I am only a few hours to be in Oregon water, and then the same thing applies. Ok mate, wake me when we get to to Calif.
Is that really a WA fish, maybe it belongs to Mexico?

Actually, a fairly good summation of the situation and the regulations.

The only thing that I recall as being as bad was the hunter who had a license to kill a grizzly (in Canada I believe). He, and or his guide, spotted one, He shot it. They followed a proper protocol of turning in a part for piece of the bear for confirmation, and it did not pass muster, was identified as a polar bear (the killing of which was a crime) so he was convicted and punished. So was the guide. There was an appeal. I do not recall the detail, but I think it turned out the bear was a hybrid of grizzly and polar bear. Remember the old joke, looks like, smells like, and do you need to taste it to find out. I guess you do. I never want to become an expert with that kind of knowledge.

[pacific_voyager]

I am now unsubscribing from this thread as it has totally blown out of proportion; becoming almost irrelevant to the original question. I hope the OP buys some frozen fish sticks for his freezer and has a great trip down the west coast.

Cheers

Jeff

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by pacific_voyager

I am now unsubscribing from this thread as it has totally blown out of proportion; becoming almost irrelevant to the original question. I hope the OP buys some frozen fish sticks for his freezer and has a great trip down the west coast.

Cheers

Jeff

That is roughly a 3% increase in your contributions over the past 10 years. Most of the time the threads survive through a period of complete irrelevancy, not almost at all. Thank you for making a difference to this one.

[gamayun]

Just call NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement for an official answer to your question. It's easy for people to not know the answer to this because fishing laws vary on the type of species targeted and whether it's in federal or state waters. Recreational fishing licenses are issued by the states. It doesn't matter if you say you're only going fishing in Federal waters, you must still have the state license because they assume you have to return to shore and it's too difficult for a patrol officer to determine where you caught that fish. Most recreational fisheries are inside state boundaries anyway (i.e., 3 NM except for west coast of Florida and Texas, which has to do with the range of a cannonball but that history is too complicated to explain here). "State waters" include a 3-NM-circle around any island offshore their state. Places like Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are treated a bit differently. The feds regulate commercial fisheries out to 200 miles, which is the EEZ; again with some nuances. There is a NMFS "recreational fishing license" for highly migratory species in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico because these fish are generally only found in federal waters. There is also a federal registry to better track what is being recreationally-caught in federal waters because you can't manage a resource if you don't have good data. My guess then, is that if you fish, you must get a fishing license from the state(s) you are fishing from whether in federal or state waters. If you're only transiting through federal waters, and you don't plan to come ashore, you'll never tangle with the state game and fish warden boats. CG is primarily interested in illegal commercial fishing boats and drug running; however, if you're close to one of those offshore islands, they're not likely to let you off so easily. Best bet is to confirm all this with NOAA OLE and perhaps have something to prove you're just passing through. Oh! But you better be damn sure you know the limits on any species you catch!

[DeepFrz]

Inside the 12 mile limit is called the Territorial Sea. If you are cruising outside of that limit you are not in territorial waters and may fish (recreational/sustenance) without a license. If you are in Mexican waters and you have fishing gear then you better have a license.

[DeepFrz]

Read note x on your nav charts. Also there are Marine Sanctuaries that must be avoided.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Read note x on your nav charts. Also there are Marine Sanctuaries that must be avoided.

The National Marine Sanctuaries don't regulate or restrict fishing, per se. Although there might be "no fishing zones" or prohibitions on certain gear in the sanctuaries, these requirements are specified by NMFS (AKA NOAA Fisheries) or the state(s).

[DeepFrz]

Yes, you are right gamayun. I'm not a fisher so I just assumed that they were no fishing zones.