This section requires charter boat and skiff licensing for certain charter fishing operations, sets annual fees and license validity, restricts vessel use in wildlife management areas, and allows the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to issue implementing rules.
§302.9.1. Charter boat license; skiff fee; charter fishing trip license A. For a charter fishing operation which does not have a charter boat fishing guide present, a charter boat license shall be required. Such license shall be for a charter fishing operation which consists of a large motorized vessel carrying small skiffs attached to it to be used by no more than two people for fishing purposes. The main motorized vessel shall be required to carry a charter boat license and proof of liability insurance, and the captain shall have a valid captain's license issued by the United States Coast Guard with the license on his person. For those vessels which carry up to six skiffs, the license fee shall be one thousand five hundred dollars per year. For those vessels which carry more than six skiffs, the license fee shall be three thousand dollars per year. No main motorized vessel licensed under the provisions of this Section shall enter any wildlife management area managed by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The liability insurance required by this Subsection shall meet the requirement of R.S. 56:302.9(A)(2). B. In addition, each skiff shall be required to have a charter skiff license which identifies the charter vessel to which it is attached. A licensed skiff shall be used only for fishing purposes while the charter vessel with which it is identified is located in Louisiana's territorial waters. Each charter skiff license shall be issued for an annual cost of seventy-five dollars per skiff. C. The charter boat license and charter skiff license shall be valid for one year, beginning on January first of each calendar year and expiring on December thirty-first of the same calendar year. D. Repealed by Acts 2021, No. 356, §5, eff. Nov. 15, 2021. E. Any person fishing in or with a licensed charter skiff shall have in his possession a copy of the charter boat license, a copy of the charter skiff license, his charter fishing trip license, or an equivalent license that grants both basic and saltwater fishing privileges. F. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries may develop and promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this Section. Acts 2001, No. 449, §1, eff. June18, 2001; Acts 2003, No. 463, §1, eff. June 20, 2003; Acts 2012, No. 844, §1; Acts 2021, No. 356, §§2, 5, eff. Nov. 15, 2021.