Everyone Fishing Aboard Partyboats May Be Cited

October 7, 2009

Question: If we are on a party boat with 30 other people and one of the anglers catches and keeps an undersized lingcod or an overlimit of fish, can the captain be charged with the same violation? In other words, is the captain responsible for what people on his boat keep? (Matt N.)

Answer: Boat limits allow all passengers on the boat to fish past their individual allowable bag limits to fill the overall boat quota. The rationale is that this provides the opportunity for all passengers to go home with fish. But the flip side is that boat limits also make all passengers and crew responsible for the actions of each person on the boat.

Under the ocean boat limit regulations, everybody on the vessel may be cited for the short fish. This includes party boats where all passengers as well as the captain and crew may be responsible for the violations of just one person. The following two sections apply:

“All persons aboard a vessel may be cited where violations involving boat limits are found, including, but not limited to: (a) Over limits, (b) Possession of prohibited species, (c) Violation of size limits, and (d) Fish taken out of season or in closed areas.” (CCR Title 14, Section 27.60[3])

“For the vessel operator(s) and crew, they may be cited for violations occurring aboard the vessel, including but not limited to violations of: (a) Over limits, (b) Possession of prohibited species, (c) Violation of size limits, and (d) Fish taken out of season or in closed areas.” (CCR Title 14, Section 195[f]).

If the culprits can be easily identified, then they may be the only ones cited. But  it’s in everyone’s best interest to be sure that all passengers are abiding by the fishing regulations since everyone may pay the price for the mistake or poor judgment of just one person.

Very rarely will get enforced, as most charter boats clean and carve/fillet the catch prior to returning to the docks...

... unless that person decides to keep there undersize catch or limit whole; than there is a possibility.

And there would also be a strong probability that person will also get thrown overboard once the game warden leaves the boat...

I've seen some passengers try to hide extra fish in their coolers.