Dumb Question Concerning Extra Person License

[Roscoe1929]

I know this may sound like a dumb question. But does a person that rides along with you in your boat, to pick up run traps, that you have an gear license for need a license? We are down in Louisiana. This is like no other fishing, because I can run these by myself with no different outcome. Limits will not change either. Not like regular fishing where they have a pole in their hand and have a personal limit.

[Roscoe1929]

Bumpin this up.

[pafree]

sorry i can't answer your question directly but it is a good question and a phone call to your parks and wildlife or GW will give the best answer.

armchair attorney:

Here in Texas we are allowed 6 traps per person that has a license.  all must be tagged with your name.  if a person pulls up my trap with my name on it then is that person fishing his trap or mine?  i would have to say the other person is fishing my trap as his own just as if they picked up your pole that was in the water while you went to the "library".  

if the extra person is captaining the boat while you are pulling traps is that person fishing?    gray area and could go either way.

if the extra person touches any tools or crabs that were trapped on the trip then i say they are fishing.

summing things up :
i looked at Louisiana regs and fishing licenses are cheap (unless out of state) but one day license can be bought.   more than likely if it is a someone you see all the time then they will get hooked and then ya'll will 15 more traps to run together.  if it is someone travelling in from a far then i would at least get a temporary license but a phone call to the local office will give a better answer to the GW warden that stops and asks for license.

[Roscoe1929]

thanks for the info.

I actually have two license tags on each trap. One for me and one for my nephew. Once a game warden looked at it and he was bewildered. I told him that if my nephew came to run my traps, he had the license on it.

And the reason I ask, sometimes you got a buddy that is hanging around and on the spur of the moment you want them to come with you to run the traps.

[pt70380]

No other license needed.  As long as you have your tag on the trap you can have a dozen people in the boat with you.

[Saltydog Too]

I'm a displaced Texan banished to Chesapeake Bay country. One of the few good things I can say about Maryland regs, is that you can get a boat license for crabbing and/or fishing. This covers everyone on the boat. Decals are displayed on the boat for easy identification by the game warden (which saves time and hassle). No separate license is needed by the owner if fishing/crabbing while not on his licensed boat. The boat licenses cost a few bucks more than the individual licenses, but worth it to be able take out of town guests (from TX of course), or friends who live in neighboring Virginia or Delaware, both of which are only minutes away, but the political boundaries become expensive. We are moving home to TX soon and hope to petition the state legislature or TDPW to start issuing boat licenses similar to Maryland. Maybe some current residents may want to beat me to it if they see the advantages of the boat license option?? Incidentally, the crabbing here on the Delmarva Peninsula (both on the Chesapeake and Atlantic coastal bay sides) is awesome and it's a beautiful place—no different than east Texas. Other than the socialist government here, my only complaint is that I can only crab 7 months a year.