California’s For-Hire Charter Licenses: What You Need to Know

STATEWIDE — Several articles published in The Log in recent months harped on the existence of illegal charter or passenger-for-hire activities in local harbors and marinas. The evasion of regulations governing commercial use of passenger boats has led U.S. Coast Guard and local law enforcement officials to ramp up increased efforts to monitor the legality of individual charter services. Federal, state and local law enforcement officers and policymakers consistently state the need to regulate illegal charter operations is to protect consumers from potentially unsafe navigations. To that end Coast Guard officials have launched initiatives to either be more proactive in monitoring passenger-for-hire activities or working with local authorities to develop new policies and standards governing illegal charters. Regulating for-hire charters – whether on state or federal waters – is still a work-in-progress. Multi-agency efforts in several regions are already underway to clarify governance and regulation of for-hire operations aboard recreational vessels. Most of our recent coverage focused either on what consumers should pay attention to prior to boarding a passenger-for-hire vessel or the requirement necessary to operate a charter service. California’s Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW), interestingly enough, offers a licensing program dedicated to for-hire vessel operations. The program outlines what boat owners...