Suspect a Texas Saltwater Guide?
What to Do if You Suspect a Fishing Guide of Operating Without a USCG License
This Is Part 2 of 2 written by Chet| Read Part 1 HERE: Your Texas Saltwater Guide
If you believe a guide is operating illegally (i.e. without a valid USCG credential), here are steps you can take:
- Gather evidence
- Take notes: date, time, vessel description, names, license number if provided, passenger list, etc.
- Take photographs (if safe and legal) of the vessel, signs, or any posted credentials.
- Retain any promotional materials, receipts, contracts, etc.
- Contact the U.S. Coast Guard / Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS)
- The Coast Guard is the federal authority responsible for enforcing maritime rules, including illegal charter operations. (Wikipedia)
- You can submit tips or reports to CGIS (Coast Guard Investigative Service). The U.S. Coast Guard provides a “CGIS Tips” platform/app for anonymous reporting of vessel infractions, illegal charters, expired credentials, etc. (Professional Mariner)
- You may also contact the relevant Coast Guard Sector office covering the Texas Gulf Coast region and report the suspected illegal operation.
- Report to state authorities
- Texas Parks & Wildlife: Use the Operation Game Thief program to report boating or wildlife violations (including unlicensed operations). Their hotline is 1-800-792-G.A.M.E. (4263). (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)
- Texas Parks & Wildlife also accepts general complaint forms (e.g. form PWD-185) for violations that may include boating / guide infractions. (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)
- Local sheriff’s office or maritime law enforcement (if applicable) might also accept tip reports.
- Notify local maritime or port authorities
- If there is a Port Authority, Harbor Patrol, or local marine regulatory body in your coastal county, you can inform them as well.
- The U.S. Coast Guard’s Captain of the Port office has authority in harbor zones and may issue orders or sanctions for one day operations. (GovDelivery)
- Follow up / check status
- After reporting, you may check back with CGIS or NMC to see whether action is taken (though they may not always inform private citizens).
- In some cases, if the illegal operation continues or causes danger, law enforcement may intervene.
Additional Considerations & Caveats
- Some small guiding operations may attempt to argue exemptions (e.g. private boat use, recreational vs commercial). But carrying paying passengers generally triggers stricter rules under federal law.
- Even if the guide claims to have a license, it might be expired, suspended, or lacking the proper endorsement for the type of guiding he’s doing.
- If there is immediate risk to life or safety (e.g. vessel appears unsafe, overloaded, no safety gear, etc.), you may also call 911 or use maritime emergency channels (e.g. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16) for urgent intervention.
- Enforcement outcomes vary: some may result in fines, cease-and-desist orders, vessel impoundment, or criminal penalties for repeated violations. (WorkBoat)
PUBLISHER’S END NOTE
The Question Went Out without an answer, in Part One of this story, where I wondered ALOUD, about celebrity guides working on the Texas Gulf Coast. But as I sit here steeped in continued wonderment, are they really “Working,” or are their junkets intentionally large. These junkets, I am talking multiple people on a boat, your videographer to record your every move, your other hanger’s on to post your every move in real time. Perhaps one of the people on board is actually a USCG licensed guide, and probably actually doing the guiding for the group? I mean, there are known facts about a particular celebrity guide and his practices, and policies that bloomed his rates to more than $1K a day – boosted to that height by the pandemic days, not by his unfriendly weather scheduling and no refund policies. If you want to guess who I am talking about, go ahead. I must be getting old and cranky, for not letting this stuff lay under the radar. Really though, this fits my MO from day one, KNOW BEFORE YOU GO. And to that end, maybe we should know who the “guides” on the Texas Gulf Coast really are?
Obviously, the systems put in place to prevent Texans from getting a simple answer by the Federal Government and/or the State of Texas are a relic of the past, a time when Republican Governmental control meant more transparency and less Government in your face. Now, the opposite is true, so why not simply create a website portal page where you can enter a guide’s name and location, and know a simple YES or NO as to whether they are licensed by the USCG to guide? And if you need an example of “growing government” in the wilderness? look no farther than Republican dominated OKLAHOMA, and their brand new ODWC policies for visiting fly fishers and fishers.
IF YOU don’t think it is important to have a USCG license to be a guide on the Texas Gulf Coast, let’s hear from you! I won’t waste everyone’s time with common sense writing, unless there is someone, anyone, who doubts the need for working coastal guides (I do question Texoma) to be USCG licensed. I anticipate being again … gripped by silence.
