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Wyoming outlines new registration, fees and reporting for fishing outfitters and guides
Summary
Wyoming Game and Fish described steps to implement 2023 statute authorizing regulation of commercial fishing outfitters and guides, including an advisory board, draft chapter 71 rules, registration decals for watercraft, a reporting requirement and proposed fee structure.
Wyoming Game and Fish told the committee it is implementing 2023 legislation that gives the department authority to regulate commercial fishing outfitters and guides. Chief of Fisheries Alan Osterland described the department’s phased approach: form an advisory board, draft commission regulations (chapter 71), create a watercraft registration and reporting process and evaluate a governance structure for outfitters and guides.
Osterland said the commission appointed a seven-member advisory board after 104 applicants in March; the board includes current and former commercial operators from high-use areas (Casper, Pinedale, Thermopolis). The advisory board met May 1 and provided recommendations used in the draft chapter 71 regulation, which the department said is currently with the governor’s office pending review.
If approved, the draft regulation would require commercial operators who use state waters to register each watercraft used in commercial operations; the department plans decals for boats and trailers and a reporting system for trip counts. The regulation would require monthly or periodic reporting of trips to create baseline use data. Osterland said the department intends eight public outreach meetings (Casper, Thermopolis, Cody, Pinedale, Thayne, Laramie, Jackson, Saratoga) during rule comment.
The department proposed a fee structure intended to balance administrative costs and operator equity: $600 for the first boat, $100 for the second, third and fourth boat (the sequence repeats for five or more craft). Osterland said the draft fees were based on comparators (Montana, Idaho) and on the department’s big-game outfitter renewal fee to reduce startup costs for administration. He said the advisory board recommended this tiered approach to avoid onerous costs for small operators who may own multiple small boats.
Osterland and staff said a reporting requirement is central: registered operators will report trips and usage, enabling the department to measure numbers, times and locations of commercial use. That data will be used if, in future years, the department and advisory board consider regulating commercial watercraft usage on specific reaches because of crowding or resource impacts. The department said any future restrictions would require additional data collection, IT implementation and several years of study; implementation of strict day-use caps or other allocations would not be expected before 2026.
Officials said the advisory board will also advise whether a separate licensing board for fishing outfitters and guides should be created or whether those functions should be nested in an existing board; the advisory board is scheduled to report to TERW in November and to the commission in September.
Ending: Department staff asked for public review of the draft regulation once it is released from the governor’s office and for stakeholder participation in the public meetings and the June 12 advisory-board meeting.
