Saltwater Information Program Permit (SIP Permit)

Picture of a red drum and invitation to anglers to be counted and heard by participating in angler surveys.

If you fish in saltwater, you need a SIP Permit - it's FREE!

Anyone who holds a Georgia fishing license, including lifetime and senior license holders, who wants to fish in saltwater needs a FREE annual SIP Permit. Starting January 1, 2020, anglers obtaining a new SIP Permit will see a change in the way expiration dates are assigned. SIP Permits will no longer all expire on the last day of February. Newly issued permits will now expire one year from date of issuance. Also new for 2020, anglers no longer have to wait for their current SIP Permit to expire before obtaining their new one. For anglers with a current SIP Permit, they can renew the permit up to 60 days prior to its expiration. Their new SIP Permit will expire 365 days after their current permit expiration date.

The SIP Permit is part of a comprehensive effort by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to collect timely and accurate data from saltwater anglers for use in resource management. Other Saltwater Information Program (SIP) activities include volunteer fish tagging, a fish carcass donation project, and ongoing creel surveys of anglers and for-hire fishing guides. Click here to read more about the Saltwater Information Program.

Since Georgia's fishing license covers both freshwater and saltwater fishing, the SIP Permit helps identify individuals who saltwater fish in Georgia so they can be included in surveys. The SIP Permit helps these surveys be cost-effective, and the results be as accurate and trustworthy as possible since they are so important to the management process. Georgia’s saltwater anglers can help by complying with this requirement and by participating in these surveys when contacted.

Georgia saltwater anglers who have a valid fishing license with a SIP Permit and who fish in the Atlantic Ocean beyond 3 miles offshore remain exempt from the federal requirement to have a National Saltwater Angler Registry permit.

If you still have questions, please click here to access SIP Permit Frequently Asked Questions

To Get Your SIP Permit

Download via the internet

Click here to access the Online License System for Georgia DNR.

Here you can buy a license, print a replacement, or obtain free permits.

Obtain it from any current license vendor

Click here to find a License Agent in your area.

Obtain it over the phone

call 1-800-366-2661- (Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. and Saturday–Sunday 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.)

Use a Smartphone App

Use the Outdoors Georgia app (download from Apple or Google Play store). You can store your license on the app, get tide, sunrise/sunset information, and more.

For Lifetime or Senior License Holders

If you have a lifetime or senior license, you will be able to print a paper version of the SIP permit and carry it when you saltwater fish in Georgia.