Is It Mandatory to Renew a Commercial Fishing Permit?

If you are a commercial fisherman, one of the appeals of this particular brand of work is probably the lack of paperwork. After all, a boat on the sea is a far cry from a desk in an office building somewhere. Still, like nearly any job, there are some bureaucratic matters that need to be tended to from time to time. If you operate your own business, you have probably accepted this and deal with vendor invoices and payroll on a regular basis. There is, however, one paperwork matter that both owner-operators and crew alike have to navigate, and that pertains to commercial fishing permit renewal.

When you first began your career as a commercial fisherman, you probably did all the necessary due diligence for obtaining the correct permits for you and your business. You assessed which state’s waters you would be operating on and consulted with their local agencies to determine which permits you would need. If you found yourself in federal waters, you worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to obtain the proper licenses for your region. While this all surely entailed a fair amount of paperwork, it was unfortunately not a one-time occurrence. There is a renewal process to complete for nearly all commercial fishing permits, and an online service such as ours can help.

Knowing When to Submit a Commercial Fishing Permit Renewal

In truth, nearly every type of commercial fishing permit at both the state and federal levels will have an expiration date. Most commonly, permits are valid for one year from their issuance date. If you look at the fine print on your commercial fishing license or permit, you will see that there is an expiration date, and perhaps instructions on how to complete a renewal. 

So, is it mandatory to renew your commercial fishing permit? This answer is a resounding “Yes”. It can depend on where you are, but your state will likely have significant penalties for fishing without the proper license. This is especially true at the federal level, where costly fines can easily jeopardize the financial future of your business. Some may think they can simply get away with operating without a permit renewal, but that is an unwise gamble to take. There are vessels that patrol state and federal waters with the sole intent of verifying licenses, so you are better off not taking that chance.

How to Renew Your Permits Online

If your commercial fishing permits are nearing expiration, you have a couple of options on how you can proceed. You can opt to complete a paper renewal application and submit it to your local agency or the NOAA. If you go this route, you will want to make sure that you give yourself enough time to accommodate any lags in processing.

You can also submit your renewals online by working with us at the Commercial Fishing Permits Center. If you take a moment to browse our website, you will see that we have a host of web forms for all of your commercial fishing permit needs. If you would like to learn more, contact us today.