What is a Maryland Commercial Fishing License?

Many many years ago, the first fishermen used to fish with sticks. Shortly after, they designed the fishing rod, created boats to go further in the sea to catch bigger fish, and so on. But while the fishing techniques revolutionized, so did the civilization. And soon after people started getting fish not only for their personal consumption yet to sell it later, so the fish was now being commercialized. While the civilizations evolved, so did the paperwork, and soon after you had to comply with a series of documents before casting your nets, in the United States and all over the world. That’s where we are now, and that is why we have created this guide: to tell you everything you need to know about the Maryland commercial fishing license.

Why Fishing in Maryland?

As you may imagine, setting up your own commercial fishing business is not as simple as getting a crew and a boat and setting sail with your nets. Apart from figuring out the logistical matters, you will need to make sure as well to have the correct Maryland commercial fishing license before leaving the dock.

Why this guide about Maryland, you may ask? And that would be a fair question. Maryland is a Mid-Atlantic state that is defined by its abundant waterways and coastlines on the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Its largest city, Baltimore, has a long history as a major seaport. Where there is water there are fish and in the case of Maryland there are plenty of rivers and lakes as well, so they have access not only to the marine fish from all the states on the coastline but also to the freshwater species.

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As you can imagine it is not simple at all to have to navigate through the bureaucratic labyrinth of permits and licenses. In Maryland there are different permits available for both state and federal fisheries, so identifying this first would be a huge step.

The federal waters depend on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and cover the area between 3 and 200 nautical miles from shore. The state waters, on the other hand, are everything in between zero and three nautical miles. Permits, however, will be needed in each jurisdiction.

The different permits you can obtain to fish in Maryland vary from a request to work as a fishing guide to the allowance of using a hook and a line when harvesting finfish. And you can find all of them on our site: the Commercial Fishing Permits Center.

How to Get a Commercial Fishing Permit on our Site

At the top of our website, you will notice there are two options of permits: state and federal. The former will give you access to the different permits that can be obtained in each state. Only in Maryland, there are 22 different options, so you should probably conduct your research to make sure which ones are the ones you need. The federal permits, on the other hand, allow you to fish in federal waters and are divided into different regions.

If all of this sounds a bit overwhelming, you are not alone. The Commercial Fishing Permits Center was created to help you out. Just reach us on the online chat or by any of the other means available. Help us to help you!