Wednesday, May 31, 2006

New NC Saltwater License Creates Problems for Charter Captains

North Carolina's new saltwater fishing license doesn't start until January 1st of next year but charter boat captains have found a flaw in the new law that could lead to extra red tape if they wanted to take a day off. In it's current form, the new saltwater license provides a blanket fishing license to a charter boat captain that covers all for-hire passengers. The problem is that the license is in the captain's name and not the vessel's. To make matters more complicated, the NC MFC has also instituted a rule requiring all captains to list their vessels on the license to help with data collection. This means that if a charter captain wanted time off or needed to take a sick day then a replacement captain would not only need a license, but would also have had to previously list the boat when getting the license. MFC officials have stated that they are sympathetic to the captains but thought that changes before next year seemed unlikely. More on the confusion is available from the Jacksonville Daily News and more on NC's saltwater license is available from the NC DMF.

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