In 2015, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game began selling fishing and hunting licenses online. They were one of the first in the country to do so.
How convenient. Licenses could now be bought anywhere, anytime.
However, online convenience had a downside. It was efficient to be able to purchase licenses on a phone, IPad, or laptop, but it still needed to be printed and signed to be valid. Regulation also requires an angler to write down certain fish that are harvested, e.g. king salmon, steelhead, halibut.
Because of that, Jane and I constantly remind our guests to have a paper license when they book a guided fishing trip. Often, our advice would be forgotten and the result delayed the start of the fishing day.
The scenario would be like this.
Me: I need to see your license before we leave the dock.
Guest: It’s on my phone.
Me: That’s not good enough. ADFG requires a signature and a place to record your catch.
Guest: What do I do?
Me: It’s 5:30am so your choices are going to a gas station or a grocery store to get a paper license. Or, you can’t go fishing today. It’s up to you.
An hour later we would finally get under way…
It took a few years, but last spring ADFG created an app for a smart phone that allows an angler to sign and record their catch. Finally. Problem solved!
Here is a screenshot of the page that allows recording of your harvest.
The app also lists all the fish and game regulations across the state.
It also has a feature that will help you identify fish species. Not knowing what you’ve kept can result in a fine and loss of your fish. That’s not what you want to remember about your fishing trip to Alaska
Can you tell which species are in the following photos? It can be hard if you’re not around salmon that often. The answer is at the end of the blogpost.
I’ll conclude with this, you can go old school and buy your fishing license at a retail outlet in Alaska, but if I were you I would down load the ADFG app and purchase your license there. Here is the link.
*The top photo are silver (coho) salmon. The bottom photo are red (sockeye) salmon.
Kings of the Kenai