| North Carolina’s Coastal Recreational Fishing License (CRFL), administered by the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), is effective Jan. 1, 2007. This license can be purchased on a 10-day, annual or lifetime basis, or combined with a variety of licenses issued by the Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC).
View license types Requirements
This license allows recreational fishermen to harvest finfish for personal consumption; finfish harvested under this license cannot be sold. Fishermen using this license are held to the state’s recreational size and possession limits. This license cannot be assigned or transferred and is required for ANY type of recreational finfish harvest not included under the Recreational Commercial Gear License. Fishermen holding the CRFL are required to comply with all DMF sampling and survey programs. The license is required to recreationally harvest finfish in the state’s Coastal Fishing Waters, which include sounds, coastal rivers and their tributaries, out to three miles in the ocean. Recreational anglers who catch fish in the Exclusive Economic Zone (3 miles – 200 miles offshore) will be required to have this license to land fish in state waters. Fishing in Joint Waters (areas managed by both the Marine Fisheries and the Wildlife Resources commissions) will require either the CRFL or a WRC inland fishing license. | 
