All Commercial Fishing Permit Applications on One Website

Fresh seafood is always in demand across the globe. No matter where you are if you are catching a sought-after type of fish, you can command a high dollar on the open market. With the completion of the right commercial fishing permit applications, you can position your industrial fishing business to thrive. Of course, as you are probably well aware, commercial fishing is a difficult and sometimes dangerous line of work. You may need to spend long hours, perhaps days or weeks at a time at sea, away from your loved ones and often in treacherous conditions. You and your seasoned crew will also frequently handle heavy and hazardous equipment, resulting in accidents if you are unprepared. While this sort of career is obviously not for everybody, it can be quite lucrative for those willing to take on the risk. If commercial fishing sounds especially alluring to you, you are going to want to make sure that your state and federal permits are in good order.

When you own and operate your own commercial fishing business, there is often a significant amount of work that needs to be done before you even leave the dock. You will need to chart out where you will be fishing and what you will be fishing for. You will also need to check that your boat is up-to-date on all of its maintenance requirements. It is also imperative that you have ample supplies for you and your crew, including life preservers and well-stocked first aid kits. Lastly, having the proper paperwork on board is also a must, and that means valid commercial fishing permits for the waters you will be casting lines or dropping nets on.

Commercial Fishing Permit Applications for Your State

One of the reasons that commercial fishing is such a time-tested and globally ubiquitous profession is that it can be done just about anywhere there is a body of water containing fish. While places situated on the ocean coastline or adjacent to a Great Lake are going to be more popular destinations, just about every state in the U.S. allows for some form of commercial or industrial fishing. Of course, as each state will have its own rules and regulations, there will be an array of different licenses, endorsements, or permits you will need.

As a general rule of thumb, state waters will constitute anything inland and the area from zero to three nautical miles from land on the ocean. To fish in state waters, you will need to have the correct commercial fishing license for your jurisdiction. You can get a better sense of what you will need by contacting your local Department of Natural Resources (or a similarly named agency). Once you have located the permits or licenses you will need, you can then acquire a paper application or download a PDF and fill it out by hand. You can then mail it back to your state agency for processing.

You could also save time and energy by working with a private online service such as ours at the Commercial Fishing Permits Center. We have commercial fishing permit applications for a number of states, and we can process your forms using our secure, SSL-encrypted web portal in just minutes.

Do You Need Federal Fishing Permits?

Have you found your local state waters to be a bit too limiting for your commercial fishing needs? Perhaps you are interested in going out a bit farther on the ocean? If you are planning to fish in the area from three to 200 nautical miles from shore, those are considered federal waters, which carry their own permit requirements. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is charged with regulating federal waters, and they do so by issuing commercial fishing licenses. As the United States is home to roughly 100,000 miles of coastline, this agency has a large area to govern. As such, they break down their permit offerings by region for Alaska, the West Coast, the Atlantic, the Pacific Islands, and the South.

Each NOAA region will have species-specific permits for that area. Whether you are longlining for Atlantic Tuna or casting lines for halibut in Alaska, there is a federal commercial fishing permit that is applicable to you. You can download your NOAA permit applications directly from their website and mail them in, or you can use our convenient website.

Get Your Commercial Fishing Permits Online 

Whether your business requires state or federal commercial fishing permits, we can help. If you take a moment or two to explore our website’s offerings, you will see that we have a streamlined web form for any permit application you need. If you would like to learn more about our services, or if you have any questions, please contact one of our helpful customer service agents by phone or email today.