To get a coveted commercial fishing license in Maryland, befriend a benevolent angler in hopes of obtaining one in a will, or prepare to wait ? indefinitely.
The state?s Department of Natural Resources has a cap on the amount of commercial fishing licenses it can give out. Today there are about 187 people waiting for some type of fishing license in the state.
The length of time people have to wait for their licenses varies with how many licenses each year are forfeited and what type of license is requested. To get a crab?s license, for instance, there is no wait.
Commercial watermen say getting a license is no easy task ? some know people who?ve waited as many as seven to eight years for a coveted license.
“I was on the waiting list for five years, and I moved up maybe two slots,” said Capt. Frank Tuma, owner of Down Time Charters in Annapolis.
Faced with no other option, Tuma decided to pay up.
Though it is illegal to buy just a license from someone, fishermen are permitted to buy someone else?s commercial business ? which by default usually includes a commercial fishing license.
Capt. Steve Murray, the owner of My Girl Charters in Edgewater, also purchased his license using this loophole.
Asked how much he paid, Murray said: “Let me put it this way: Fishing guides will sell for $6,000 to $7,000.”
Tuma agreed with that estimate, and added that unlimited tidal fishing licenses can get anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000.
“They turn over like waterfront property,” Murray said. “They are a commodity.”
Gina Hunt, assistant director of the Fisheries Service for the Department of Natural Resources, said two more popular commercial licenses are the fishing guide?s license (for charter boats) and the unlimited tidal fishing license, which is the most extensive of any of the fishing licenses.
Hunt said wait times are unavoidable because of the cap of the number of licenses that can be allocated. The caps were put in place in the mid-?90s as a conservation measure, Hunt said.
“Anytime you limit something, you are ? by virtue of limiting it ? creating a demand,” Hunt said.
