Fishing question

December 2, 2021

Question: I recently went on a fishing trip with a group of friends on a commercial fishing boat out of the Bay Area. The boat captain checked to make sure we all had fishing licenses and explained that he could get a ticket for letting unlicensed anglers fish off his boat. If I let someone fish off my personal boat who doesn’t have a license, would I get a ticket too?

Answer: No. Operators of Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels are held to a higher standard than private boat owners and must comply with California Fish and Game Code (FGC) section 7920, which deals with Commercial Passenger Fishing Boat Licenses. FGC section 7920 states: The owner of any boat or vessel who, for profit, permits any person to take fish, shall procure a commercial passenger fishing boat license. This article applies only to a boat or vessel whose owner or his or her employee or other representative is with it when it is used for fishing. A person operating a guide boat, as defined in FGC section 46, is not required to obtain a commercial passenger fishing boat license.

Furthermore, FGC section 7147 describes the license requirements for persons fishing from boat or vessel, which are: The owner or operator of a boat or vessel licensed pursuant to FGC section 7920 shall not permit any person to fish from that boat or vessel unless that person has, in his or her possession, a valid California sport fishing license and any required stamp, report card, or validation issued pursuant to this code.

To recap: As a private boat owner, if you let someone fish from your boat without a fishing license, you would not be subject to FGC section 7147. Of course, we encourage you to make sure your private boat’s fishing passengers have fishing licenses anyway!