TimothyMichaels Loc: Seattle WA

On an adjacent post aquatic species inspections was mentioned in a reply. At the first smell of a new tax my ire was aroused! First off I will declare I am quite in favor of each and every boater and/or anyone using a personal flotation device in Washington waters, to be protective of our waters and to fight against this invasive species. The permit required by Whatcom County requires a fee of $60 per year if I'm reading it correct. And with the chart where they list it, I do think it might be more? I can see this as a type of "just the beginning" as all counties will probably jump in to the money pile awaiting them. $60 per year seems too much to have a person inspect your boat. Especially when I was born with eyes to look myself. $60 times the amount of boats owned in Whatcom county is probably a good chunk of change. And $60 times the amount of counties some folks fish in seems overwhelming. This reminds me of Seattle's emissions tests. Yes, to me this seems a new way to tax any person who owns a boat I wouldn't be surprised if the money just went into some general fund and not earmarked for a particular lake. Sport fishing is already getting quite expensive and I do not have the funds to keep up with all this permitting so that I can use my boat.
Will this tax will spread even more then the aquatic invasive species or am I just apprehensive about nothing, and the government only requires that which they need?
What happens if you don't have a permit? Is the fine huge or do they impound you boat?
What do you think?
Does anyone have have more information on this subject?
Does anyone have ideas on how this invasive species can be fought at a more reasonable level?

Sunbeamdon Loc: WA

One issue with Whatcom County - they lack definitions for small boats and non-motorized. Hopefully, they will call me tomorrow.

bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

Non -motorized is the definition of small boat
The ASI permit is only applicable to Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish. There is a discount if you take the online course. The course is simple way to make people understand invasive species. If one can pass the course, they should not be at the helm of a boat anyway. It is so simple.
As for the inspection, I have always had very pleasant people check my boat out. They look to see that the boat does not have weeds, water or growth on the boat. The only acton they require is that the engine be dropped all the way down to be sure it is not holding water. In the case of rain, there is no silly crap about the boat no being dry.
Bottom line: You should be doing everything required by the inspectors anyway. Only selfish, irresponsible people would not be doing what is required each time they pull out, either at the launch or when they get home. It is those selfish , irresponsible people that the inspectors are there for.
As for the cost, it is not cheap to have a couple (4 on weekends) employees trained and on sight at both lakes 7 days a week. I have never waited in line more than 5 minutes. That being said, I do not use those two lakes on weekends or holidays. The inspection also takes about 5 minutes.
Type of Permit Cost Discounted Cost with AIS Awareness Course
Annual Registered Permit $60 $50
Annual Small Vessel Permit $30 $20
Annual Non-Motorized Permit $10 free
Three Day Pass $20 not applicable
One Day Pass $10 not applicable
Decontamination Services Fee $25 not applicable

TimothyMichaels Loc: Seattle WA

This should not be this way! Sure there are some lame thinkers who would cross pollute and not give it a second thought. But there are that sort in any group. I seriously think it would be a dreamer that would feel this “inspection” would catch all of them. Some might propagate the spread through ignorance also. But the common sportsman would not intentionally do this. Please post this online course, heck I would like to watch it. But it is hard to find it. And for a person who is oblivious to it, it just won’t be obvious. So education is the key. Kind of like a “buy bonds” pitch in WW2. I would think it a great idea for the rest of us to have access to this AIS Awareness Course, whether we are in Whatcom county or King. And it should be posted in conspicuous places. That would be youtube for one thing. And it would come up whenever a person looked at a video about boats of fishing. It would not take much more than a sliver of the cost of current licensing to produce such. Not to mention property taxes of homes built on lakefront. Show the course as I can't easily find it, but there should be a video showing preventative steps with a small note on your fishing license or boat license. Not this bureaucratic fee. One could go the route and have a licensee check a box "I have watched this video". That would be the video for the regular guy to see and learn from. Frankly I put AIS Awareness Course in my search engine and Google comes up with a lot of HIV stuff.
If your responsible, then your responsible. But when the local jurisdiction steps in and applies a fee (and I still say a high one at that) it's just government over reach. You watch, there are many counties who will eventually apply this fee which will make the cost of a good sport become non attainable by many folks.
PS. If anyone knows where the online course is on the net they should announce it on this post. And we as a community of fishermen should use this and any post like it to spread the word and ring the alarm.

Edfisher Loc: Athens, WI and Sultan, WA

Just another money grab by the lovely state/local governments of Washington State! IT WILL EXPAND, THERE IS ZERO DOUBT IN MY MIND! I am glad I'm transitioning out of this state.

Bigbum Loc: Washington

Haven't seen or heard anything yet about invasive species permit here in south sound (Pierce county). Probably coming. I frequently travel to N. Idaho to fish Lake Pend Orielle and other bodies of water. Theres a check station on I90 outside of Post Falls that charges $34? for outta state watercraft. Okay, is what it is. Theres also a check station on I90 in Wa. just over the Idaho line. On one of my last return trips home I stopped into this Wa. watercraft check station. The gal that walked around my boat inspecting had a dog with her. I swore up and down I had no drugs or contraband onboard. She got a good chuckle over that. No, the dogs, with their sense of smell many hundreds of times more sensitive than ours, are trained to sniff out invasive tagalongs. No shat!. Actually thought that was pretty cool.

Al Frazier Loc: Monroe, WA

Try whatcomboatinspection.com the website has a menu AIS awareness course

Jeep1980 Loc: Bellingham, Wa.

Very well done... you covered it all... the other option is to choose not to fish Lake Whatcom or Samish in a boat.. this happens to be the only fee that I do not have a problem with...

bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

Just type in "Washington AIS course" in your search engine. It will come up right on top. At this point, I am checking out of this post because further comments on my part could go south and I refuse to go that route again. Hopefully I can restrict myself to info only.

bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

A permit is required for non-resident boaters coming into Washington. Idaho requires an ASI sticker for both residents and non residents on all Idaho waters. As for lake inspections, to the best of my knowledge the Charged ASI permit for residents and lakeside inspections only applies to lake Whatcom and Lake Samish in Whatcom County. All other water bodies in Whatcom County do not require the inspection or sticker. If you are not boating here, it does not effect you. Note: the course is a good thing. Very informative and free. I recomend it even if it is not required.

TimothyMichaels Loc: Seattle WA

So if you go outside the bounds of the restriction there are no ruffled feathers. In fact I appreciated that you to stated this as I realize I'm not the only guy who does the same.
I did look up your last entry with Washington AIS course. Bingo, I found it. Now all I need to find is some time to study it. If it is really a good tutorial I would like to plaster it in front of all I know. I think we do all care. But the bottom line for you is thanks for sharing that tip.
I'm now looking at how they can fight this at the DNA level?

Jeep1980 Loc: Bellingham, Wa.

Time to take the test... 20 minutes for the power point presentation, 7 question test... common sense gets you through most of it... not rocket science...

bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

Timmothy, if you respond in "quote reply" right under the post you are responding to, it will connect to the person you are responding to rather than back to your original post. It helps keep things clear. It is a learning curve we all seem to have to go through. As for the test, it is easy as jeep 1980 stated. If you blow it, just go back and do it again. No tricks or gimmicks. It is just a learning tool.

TimothyMichaels Loc: Seattle WA

Thanks for the heads up.

RatherB.Fishn Loc: Arizona

The spread of invasive species is a real threat. Regardless of how informative a tutorial could be there are many that won’t see or read or know how to prevent. Some just won’t take time to have a clean boat, or just plain overlook or forget. The threat is very real. It can destroy a beautiful thing. That being said, the costs potentially can be prohibitive if you only fish each lake a time or two. If the cost were offered on a pay each visit basis at say $5-$10 with an annual option of the $60 then it would be easier to swallow. Additionally, in Colorado where I fish occasionally, they put a“seal” on the boat after use so you are good to go for next trip.