Salt Water License

**Cape Fisherman** · 05-04-2011 03:15 PM

I went online to purchase a charter boat / for-hire license. After ten minutes of searching the arcane mass.gov site I called their customer service number. The woman who answered was incredibly rude and could care less about helping me. She repeatedly gave me a URL that resulted in PAGE NOT FOUND. When I reported this to her she replied: "Well then you don't know how to use the internet."

After waiting thirteen (yes I timed it) minutes to talk to her supervisor, he quickly gave me the proper URL (not even close to what she told me). I stated that the DMF does not make it easy to follow the rules and he merely snickered with a bureaucratic tone.

What a joke.

Here is a link to the application that must be mailed, or faxed in with a copy of your USCG license: http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/recre...pplication.pdf

**Charlie Wade** · 05-04-2011 05:50 PM

Gotta love your tax dollars hard at work and those caring civil servants! I did mine in person hoping to avoid the "convenience" fee for an online transaction. Not sure what that accomplished, because at the end of the day it was just another in a long line of cashectomies.

**Oro** · 05-17-2011 07:03 PM

According to MA state laws, you also do not need a saltwater fishing or drivers license if you are in the country illegally.

**stew** · 05-18-2011 08:47 AM

Guys, I am going to throw a very differant view to this. The reason we have a saltwater license is because the Fed. Govt came out and said to the states that they either come up with a permit or the fisherman in that state would have to have a Fed. lic. Remember last year? So the state says we will do it. They come up with a simple fee and make it easy to get online and print out ASAP. Now I get several phone calls a day about this and I here the b&*^hing all day long. But I for one am very glad that the state is getting the money instead of the Fed's. As one of the guys who is very involved in the sportfishing industry on many differant levels, I am very glad that we, the Recreational Saltwater Angler, is going to be counted, and I mean real numbers, not some BS quesstimate that the Fed's have been using for years. This is what our industry and sport needs, we need a voice and we need to see the billions of dollars that are being spent by the Saltwater angler. So when you send in your $10 please remember that you are being counted and to guys like me that go to meetings, both on the regulation side and the sportfishing industry side, we thank you. To have a real count of the Saltwater Anglers in the USA is going to help us fight for access to fish stocks and we can show just how many people fish the oceans. Even with all my boat permits, and considering the fact that I don't beach fish, I still bought a permit anyway. I ask that you all buy one regardless. Stand up and be counted. $10 is nothing. That equals 2 handcrafted beers at a Pub! Good luck. Capt. Eric