Admeasurement & Documenting Canadian boats for US fisheries.

Jon

2008-02-22 17:30:02

In order to commercial fish a Canadian built boat it cannot be 'Documented' with the Coast Guard, it must be registered with the State of Alaska 'AK Number'. In order not to be required to be a Documented vessel, it must be under 5 net tons according to the U.S. Jones Act.

Mathematically speaking, any troller longer than 24' will displace more than 5 net tons and therefore could not fish in the US. Fortunately, there is a process called ad-measurement, in which a survey is performed by a certified professional who excludes areas of the boat that are not used for fish storage thereby making a normally too-large boat, technically under 5 net tons. This process costs between $1000 and $2000.

Once your boat is certified as being under 5 net tons you can register it with the State of Alaska DMV and then place your fishery permits and whatnot on the boat, and go fishing. The DMV says that boats registering in Alaska for the first time must be registered in person. I am not sure if this is actually enforced. Also, the boats Canadian registration must be removed before it can be registered in the US. But, again, I don't think the Alaska DMV checks this.

You do not need to change or remove the Canadian home port lettering on the stern. I was boarded by the Coast Guard in Alaska and they told me I needed to. I politely told them I thought not (I read the regs) and eventually they realized their mistake and had nothing to say.

Here are some people/companies that handle admeasurements:

Bob Best - (360) 598-4256 - mailto:BESTCZ@aol.com

American Bureau of shipping - (218) 877-6131

Bureau Veritas - (201) 525-4114

Germanischer Lloyd - (914) 366-6606

*I've edited this post for accuracy. Thanks Jim*

Jim

2008-02-22 18:55:48

Jon,

Before you buy a Canadian vessel I would caution that to my knowledge according to the Jones Act you can not fish a foreign built vessel greater then 5 Net tons.

Here is a link to info on the Jones Act

~~[url=~~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920][url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920

This is where getting the boat admeasured comes in. In order to get the boat under 5 Net tons the admeasurer will certify non hold areas as such things as galley, crew quarters, engine room, tankage etc. Then being under 5 Net tons the boat is no longer able to be a documented vessel and must be a state registered vessel.

I hope this info is helpful.

Jim

Jon

2008-02-22 20:09:11

Ah, very interesting. I thought it was the other way around, which it would be if it were a recreational vessel.

So, it has to get documented as being less than 5 net tons so it doesn't require coast guard documentation which would make it ineligible to fish in the US since it's not of US origin. We're saying the vessel is small and therefore avoiding the jones act. So after that we just register it in Alaska with an AK number to get it fishing legal.

Thanks for straightening me out :)

hotspot

2008-02-23 07:12:28

Hey Jon,

What is the name of the vessel you are contemplaing buying? I live in BC and my father was a commercial troller and I have done a lot of trolling as well during the summers...from the "fence" on the Washington/BC border to Dixon Entrance. I also own half of an 42' ex-troller that we use for sports fishing....but I would really like to get a license on her as she is in nice shape now.....but that is just too expensive here.

Hotspott

Jon

2008-02-23 16:49:50

Hi Hotspot,

Yea, the Canadian licenses are sure expensive. Is the price set by the government? Does the price fluctuate? I don't understand why it costs so much for a license that can't make any/much money.

The boat is the Camosun.

fishtales

2008-10-21 00:04:50

Thank you for the information.