Next week, the Louisiana Department and Development (LDWF) licensing staff will offer commercial license sales at the Lake Charles office on Monday, December 5, and Tuesday, December 6 (from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.). The office is located at 1025 Tom Watson Rd., in Lake Charles. (NOTE: This office has recently moved to a new location.)
This is the second in a series of four remote license sales LDWF is hosting in an effort to assist commercial fishermen and business owners in obtaining their commercial licenses.
During the remote license sales, LDWF will offer new or renewal commercial fishing licenses and boat registration transactions. In addition, trip ticket staff will also be present to train new or existing seafood dealers on the process of filling out trip tickets, to answer questions regarding trip tickets, and to take trip ticket orders. (NOTE: Trip tickets will not be distributed on site.)
Additional dates and locations of the remote license sales are listed below:
Lafayette Office
200 Dulles Drive
Lafayette
Dec. 7 & 8
9 am – 3:30 pm
Bourg Office
468 Texas Gulf Rd.
Bourg
Dec. 12 – Dec. 14
9 am – 3:30 pm
Acceptable forms of payment will include personal checks, cashier's checks, money orders, and cash. To avoid processing delays, customers purchasing licenses are asked to bring their license renewal notices with them.
First-time applicants can apply by mail or in person. When applying in person you must provide the following:
- Resident applicants must provide proof of residency such as a Louisiana driver’s license, (held continuously for 12 months) voter’s registration, vehicle registration and state income tax.
- Non-resident applicants must provide proof of residency from their domiciliary state, such as a driver's license, voter's registration, vehicle registration and state income tax.
- Applicants applying for a license in a business name must provide documentation showing proof of valid federal tax ID# assigned to the business name and proof of authorized signature, or an occupational license will be required.
The Trip Ticket program requires wholesale/retail seafood dealers and wholesale/retail reptile and amphibian dealers purchasing or accepting transfers of catch from commercial fishermen or reptile/amphibian collectors to submit trip tickets to LDWF. Trip tickets capture information about the catch – what it is, where it was caught, how it was caught, and how much was caught. Fresh product license holders (commercial fishermen licensed to sell their catch directly to consumers) are also required to submit trip tickets.
The trip ticket information is confidential and protected under state and federal law. LDWF uses this information to improve assessments of fish populations and inform management.
You can find more information about the Trip Ticket program, including how-to videos, on the LDWF website at https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/trip-tickets.
For trip ticket inquiries, please call (225) 765-2449 or email triptickets@wlf.la.gov.
For commercial license inquiries, contact (225) 765-2898.