Well, I heard a rumor as I was going to get permits for my boat for next week—and its true. You no longer need a boat permit to fish in Mexican waters, just a personal fishing license for everyone onboard the boat.

This applies to all vessels, charter and private.

I had heard the same rumor, but I heard that you couldn’t get a license and couldn’t fish in Mex waters. I heard that the intent was to do away with the long range and 3/4 day cattle boats so the mexican locals could pick up the busines. You got to wonder what the thinking was to do away with a revenue stream? Maybe they think it will result in increased sales of fishing licenses and more tourism?

Randy

I will talk to Tony at CONAPESCA on Monday to get more info, because I’m not sure how licenses will be affected. According to their San Diego web site, they only list the usual, but for us charter boats we used to be able to get a 1-day license. The 6-pack fleet out of Dana Landing said they would honor the 1-day licenses, but I’m not sure. CONAPESCAs web site only has a single sentence about it and it just says “no more boat permits required.”

John and I talked about this last night and the only thing I can figure is that the money they gained from the cattle boats here in San Diego could not have been that much. Heck, I paid less a year to get my recreational charter license than I would have if I bought a recreational one, plus I could buy mine one month at a time making it even cheaper and I know the big boats do the same. I just wonder if it was more trouble than it was worth for them. From what I understand though, the Mexican gunboats will be more vigilant than in the past. Whatever that means.

wanna make sure I have this straight. Still need a mexican fishing license (personal) but no Mexican Boat registration.

maybe has to do with us going to allow Mexican truckers on our roads

According to Conapesca in a letter I recieved Saturday (but didn’t open until yesterday) and a conversation with them that is just about it. No boat permit, but people need a Mexican fishing licenses—everyone on board regardless of age or fishing status.

Now technically, and supposedly this will be a bigger priority to enforce, you will need to fill out the forms for DFG for bringing fish back into the US. They rarely check or care. I don’t know what forms they are exactly because charter boats simply fill out their catch reports and that suffices (plus we have to send catch reports to CONAPESCA), but I was told that would be a bigger priority. Plus in areas like the Coronados, expect to be checked more often for licenses. Frankly if you are on the up-and-up, it just makes it easier and cheaper to fish down there.

I think I found the form on the DFG web site…

http://www.fgc.ca.gov/html/declaration.html

Its not new, I was just warned it would be checked more vigilantly from now on.

So does this license requirement just apply in waters near CA? is this only for boats coming from the US? Is a license need to fish with a Mexican captain from a panga on the Baja? The one time I was down there, I was told a license was technically needed but there was no place to buy one.

Technically, the statement comes from CONAPESCA, which controls all fishing in the country, not just our local branch of Conapesca. My understanding is that whether you fish Mazatlan or the Yucatan, if you bring your boat into Mexican water you no longer need a boat permit. However, if you fish (except from the beach) on a boat regardless of who is running it or where its from, every person on board needs a Mexican license. Most lodges on the Yucatan provide them as part of your fee and most Mexican charter boats do as well. If not, get one.

REALIZE the boat is not responsible for your not having a license. If the boat is okay but you are unlicensed, the captain will not get a ticket—you will—or it could be worse than a ticket. If you have a yearly Mexican license (bought here or anywhere), you are covered no matter where you fish in Mexico, so that’s the safest way to go. You are responsible for your license, not the captain. Don’t take a chance. Heck, a yearly permit is $42. That’s nothing. A one day for us charter boats is $12. Fish 4 times on a charter boat and you are better off with a yearly license.

Its for all boats in Mexican waters from outside Mexico. However, you still need to clear customs in Mexico if you intend to stay down there a while. Only thing different is you won’t need to buy a fishing license for the boat, just for the people on board—ALL people on board, from age 1 to 100, fishing or not as long as there are rods on board.