Georgia Saltwater Fishing Regulations: Licenses, Limits, and Gear

Anyone 16 or older fishing in Georgia’s coastal saltwater needs a state fishing license and a free Saltwater Information Permit (SIP), and must follow the Georgia Department of Natural Resources rules on size, bag limits, gear, and protected species. Georgia saltwater fishing regulations set a resident annual license at $15 and a non-resident annual license at $50, with short-term options for visitors.

Licenses and the Saltwater Information Permit

Residents ages 16 to 64 pay $15 per year. Non-residents 16 and older pay $50 per year.¹ If you’re visiting for a short trip, a non-resident one-day license is $10, and you can extend it for up to ten additional consecutive days at $3.50 per day.²

Every saltwater angler also needs the SIP. It’s free, valid for 365 days, and feeds the DNR’s harvest data used to set future rules.² You can buy licenses and register for the SIP online at GoOutdoorsGeorgia.com, or in person at bait shops and sporting goods stores along the coast.

Who Fishes for Free or at a Discount

Anglers under 16 don’t need a license. Residents 65 and older can buy a discounted annual license for $4, and residents born on or before June 30, 1952 qualify for a free Lifetime Sportsman’s License. Georgia veterans who served 90 or more consecutive days on active duty and received an honorable discharge on or after July 1, 2005 can get one free annual license. Fishing in a private pond on your own land requires no license at all.¹

Size and Bag Limits

Georgia sets a minimum size and a daily creel for most saltwater species. A few carry a maximum size too. Total length is measured from the tip of the snout to the farthest point of the tail when squeezed together. Anything short goes back in the water immediately.

Red drum: minimum 14 inches, maximum 23 inches, daily limit 5.
Spotted seatrout: minimum 14 inches, daily limit 15.
Flounder: minimum 12 inches, daily limit 15.

All three are open year-round.³

Species You Cannot Keep

Atlantic sturgeon cannot be harvested at all. If you hook one, release it as quickly as possible with minimal handling.³

Georgia also keeps a long list of prohibited sharks that are unlawful to possess. The list includes sand tiger, sandbar, silky, whale, basking, white (great white), dusky, and oceanic whitetip, among more than a dozen others.⁴ Cut the line as close to the hook as you safely can and release the fish. Keeping one carries serious penalties.

Gear Rules

Red drum are classified as a gamefish, so you can only take them with a rod and reel or pole and line. No nets, no traps, no commercial gear.⁵ Flounder is the only species you can take with a gig.

Recreational shark fishing with natural bait requires non-offset, corrodible, non-stainless-steel circle hooks. Flies and artificial lures are exempt. The rule applies to all recreationally targeted shark groups, including the small shark composite, hammerhead, and shortfin mako categories.⁴ The DNR recommends non-offset circle hooks for other saltwater species too, though it isn’t required for non-shark fishing.

Seines and Nets

Gill nets are effectively banned for recreational anglers in Georgia saltwater, and using a beach seine as if it were a gill net is unlawful. Seine rules turn on size and location:⁴

12 feet or shorter: maximum four-foot depth, one-inch stretched mesh. Allowed in saltwater.
Under 100 feet: minimum 1¼-inch stretched mesh. Barrier island sand beaches only. Not in inlets or tidal sloughs.
100 to 300 feet: minimum 2½-inch stretched mesh. Ocean-front side of beaches only. Not in inlets or tidal sloughs.
Over 300 feet: prohibited.

No seine can block more than half the entrance of any tidal river, creek, slough, or inlet.

Shrimping

Food shrimp has no fixed opening date. The DNR Commissioner opens the season sometime after May 15, typically around mid-June, and it usually runs through mid-January. Opening and closing dates go out through coastal media, marina postings, and the Coastal Resources Division website. With a cast net, the daily limit is 48 quarts of heads-on shrimp or 30 quarts of tails per person. When more than one person is on the boat, the boat limit is the same as the individual limit, not multiplied.⁵

Bait shrimp has no closed season. Cast netters are limited to two quarts per person at any time, with a daily maximum of four quarts. With two or more people aboard, the boat limit is four quarts at any time and eight quarts per day.⁵

When You Leave State Waters

Georgia’s jurisdiction generally reaches three nautical miles from shore. Past that, federal rules apply.⁶ You still need your Georgia license and SIP, but targeting certain species offshore triggers a federal permit.

To fish for tuna, billfish, swordfish, or sharks in federal waters, you need a federal Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling Permit. It costs $24, and you must carry a hard copy on board. Shark fishing under the permit requires a separate shark endorsement, which involves a short educational video and a quiz during the application. Vessels holding the HMS Angling Permit cannot sell their catch.⁷

Penalties

Most recreational violations — fishing without a license, exceeding bag limits, keeping undersized fish, possessing prohibited species — are misdemeanors. A standard Georgia misdemeanor can carry up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, though most first-time recreational cases end well below that maximum.

Commercial penalties climb fast. Operating a commercial fishing boat in closed waters carries a minimum $500 fine on a first offense, at least $1,500 plus a ten-day fishing suspension on a second, and a minimum $5,000 fine with a 60-day suspension on a third. Going deeper than a quarter mile into closed waters raises the first-offense minimum to $5,000 with a 60-day suspension, and repeat offenses can hit $10,000 and suspensions up to a year.⁸

Georgia participates in the Wildlife Violator Compact, so a serious violation here can follow you home. If you’re cited in Georgia and don’t resolve the case, your home state can suspend your hunting and fishing privileges until you do. Game wardens patrol the coast regularly and check licenses, catch, and gear.

1
Georgia Department of Natural Resources. License Prices
2
Georgia.gov. Purchase a Fishing or Hunting License
3
Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Recreational Finfish Season, Limits, and Sizes
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Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 391-2-4 – Saltwater Fishing Regulations
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Georgia Department of Natural Resources. 2025-2026 Hunting and Fishing Regulations
6
U.S. Office of Coast Survey. U.S. Maritime Limits and Boundaries
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NOAA Fisheries. Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Angling Permit (Open Access)
8
Justia. Georgia Code 27-4-138 – Penalties for Offenses Pertaining to Commercial Fishing Boats