Registration information please.

[Sam de Beer]

Hi Guys,
I need some information. I have a small inflatable pontoon boat for fishing - ±2m long and 1m wide, with a small electric motor (Watersnake). Do I need to register it? If so, where do I do it and how much will it cost me? And do I need a special fishing license to fish from it?
Thanks
Sam

[Hirdy]

According to the Government web site, any vessel modified to accept a motor must be registered:

Boats/vessels that must be registered
If your boat has a motor, or is fitted for one, it must be registered with the Department and is subject to an annual registration fee. Yachts, canoes, surf skis and other craft without motors and not fitted to carry one, are not required to be registered.

That's a real pain. It doesn't distinguish between electric and petrol/diesel powered motors.

I've just gone through this process to get a catamaran registered, so it's fresh in my mind.

First, you'll need to take the "boat" to a location to have a "boat code" fitted to the hull. In the catamaran, they drilled some holes in the hulls and riveted the plates to the hulls. Good luck with the pontoon on that one.

You'll need to take proof of ownership of the boat. I don't know what they'll do about assessing the size of the motor (in HP) or its serial number. It'll cost around $100.

After you've been given a boat code, you take the boat code papers and Application to Register a Boat into the Dept of Transport and pay about $100 to register it.

I'm guessing the guy fitting the boat code will laugh and struggle to comply with the regulations as written. You'll get some weird questions from the people at the counter of the Dept of Transport. It's going to be a battle ….

However, I have heard of the Marine Police fining kayakers $120 for having an unregistered motor vessel when they were running an electric motor (like I do). I've been running one for about 5 months now on my yak and haven't had any problems with the police yet, and they have gone past.

Given that the vessel should be registered, if the law were obeyed fully, I would expect that you should have a recreational fishing license with you at all times in that boat. If you are caught fishing from a motor boat without the license, they can confiscate all the gear you are using, including the car you used to get there. If they can ping you for not registering a vessel that should have been registered, they could easily ping you for fishing from that boat without a license. I carry a license for this reason: I can wear a $120 fine for an unregistered boat, but I'd be heartbroken to lose that boat, plus my fishing gear, plus my car just because I was not carrying a license when I landed with fish.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Sam de Beer]

Wow,
To say I am shocked is an understatement. Thanks for your reply and explanation Graeme, I really appreciate it. If I knew it was going to be such a schlep I would have stayed with a float tube and fins. How do they fit a plate to an inflatable’s soft hull? Can you point me to this location where the plate is fitted? Jeez, it is already looking like costing me more than the damn boat cost me.

I have a freshwater fishing license. Do I need anything extra on top of that to fish from my boat? And do I get it from the Department of Fisheries.

When something like this crosses your path you often wonder about the necessity of such regulations – I often wonder if it is not just a job creation thing – they pay what they earn directly into their employees’ salaries and that is about it. But I guess there is place for these regulations in a well structured and already over regulated society.

Thanks again – I know what I will be doing when I am back in Perth next time.

S

[Hirdy]

G'day Sam,

Yeah, it's a lot of hassle for very little apparent benefit to the community in cases like ours. It's not just one plate - they need to fit two to the hull, one of which is hidden from plain view. Maybe they will rip your hull open and fit it inside?

Here's the link for where to go to get a Boat Code.

Fishing in fresh water is an awful thing to admit to on this forum. I have no idea what the regulations are about that (at least, none that I'll admit to!) I think Google might be your friend on that one.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Sam de Beer]

Thanks for all your advise Graeme, I actually got it done - but with a couple of interesting balls out of the left field. First, the kind gentleman who had to rivet the two tags to the boat helped me out a great deal after someone at the Australian Boat ???? wanted to charge me $300 to register the boat because it is "foreign made"! As if all the inflatables you buy in Australia are not made in China!!!

When we got around that unpleasant surprise he charged me $80 for the two tags on the boat and the registration cost me another $90. Done and dusted!

And before I forget - that whole palaver took the best part of three quarters of my day to accomplish.

Another pleasant surprise was to find that I am registered as a Boat Fisher on my fishing license. Now I just have to find a place where I can catch a fish from said "boat".

Thanks again for your help.

Kind regards

Sam

[Hirdy]

Good work Sam. Glad I could be of help to someone - I can't help a rank beginner with learning to catch a fish on a fly …

Cheers,
Graeme