RECREATIONAL OFFSHORE LANDING PERMIT (MS ROLP)
Mississippi anglers are now required to obtain a Recreational Offshore Landing Permit (ROLP) to possess any reef fish species including any species of Snapper, Amberjack, Grouper, Hind, Triggerfish, and Cobia in Mississippi waters. Gray (Mangrove) Snapper may be harvested North of the Intracoastal Waterway (inshore) without this permit.
This permit is free of charge and is considered a supplemental license to your recreational saltwater fishing license. You do not need a ROLP if you do not fish for the above-listed species or if you only fish for those species on charter boats as a client. If you are going to fish offshore for other species but may land any of the above listed species, it is recommended to get your ROLP. Persons currently exempt from purchasing a fishing license (those under 16 or disabled as described in MS. Code 49-15-69) are not required to have a valid ROLP.
Charter captains, including those fishing from vessels with a valid federal charter/headboat permit, are required to have a valid ROLP to possess the species listed above. A charter captain with a ROLP covers all paying anglers on a charter trip. When a charter captain is on a private recreational offshore trip, all other anglers on the vessel are required to have a ROLP.
When registering for a ROLP, anglers must enter their MDWFP Customer ID # accurately for successful validation. A valid email and mailing address is also required for successful permit distribution. After successful registration, a temporary ROLP will be issued within a few minutes by email. User information will be validated, and a 2024 calendar year permit will be issued within 10 business days. All ROLP will expire annually on December 31st of the current calendar year regardless of registration date
GET YOUR RECREATIONAL OFFSHORE LANDING PERMIT
You will need to have your MDWFP Customer ID Number ready regardless of license type. If you do not have your MDWFP license information, you can look it up through the MDWFP Customer Portal. You will also need a working email address and contact phone number to receive your digital ROLP Card.
If you have any questions or experience issues, please email ROLP@dmr.ms.gov or call the Mississippi Recreational Fishing Survey Hotline at 228-325-1585.
MS ROLP FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The ROLP was created to allow Mississippi’s fisheries managers to better quantify the proportion of Mississippi anglers that fish for key federally managed species. It will also work together with the MS CREEL fishing effort survey to create a clear concept of the fishing activity for Mississippi’s saltwater anglers.
While this permit overlaps with Tails n’ Scales for the harvest of Red Snapper in Mississippi, the programs develop estimates of catch in different ways. Mississippi’s fisheries managers understand the burden of reporting and obtaining licenses/permits and do not intend to burden anglers beyond what is absolutely necessary to provide anglers the greatest opportunity to access the managed resources.
This permit does not apply to those persons currently exempt from purchasing a fishing license (those under 16 or disabled as described in MS. Code 49-15-69)
No, you only need to get the permit once per calendar year. Regardless of when you get the permit, it will expire on December 31st of that year.
We did not deem that there would be a benefit to financial burden associated with the permit. We simply want to develop a program that is more capable of estimating and understanding Mississippi angler’s fishing effort than what is currently being produced.
INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY LINE FOR GRAY (MANGROVE) SNAPPER ONLY
No, the ROLP is operating separate from the Tails n’ Scales Mandatory Reporting Program and Red Snapper anglers will still report as normal. It is possible that Mississippi will transition to MS ROLP and MS CREEL programs for generating estimates of catch for all species landed in Mississippi which would allow fisheries managers to remove the burden of trip level reporting through Tails n’ Scales.
