Frequently Asked Questions

The ROLP (Recreational Offshore Landing Permit) is a free permit that is required in addition to all other applicable licenses and/or permits to be in possession of certain offshore fish species or species groups in Louisiana state waters. The following are species or species groups that require a ROLP:

• tunas
• billfish
• swordfish
• amberjacks
• snappers
• groupers
• hinds
• cobia
• wahoo
• dolphinfish
• gray triggerfish

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries developed the Recreational Offshore Landing Permit to better quantify and characterize the charter and recreational fishermen who fish beyond Louisiana’s territorial waters.

No.

Yes.

No. Register for a ROLP only if you are planning to go on a private, recreational offshore trip. If you do not fish offshore or only go offshore on charter boats as a client, please do not register for a ROLP.

No. The charter captain is required to have a Charter ROLP covering all clients onboard.

Yes, but only if you or anyone onboard intends to keep specified offshore species. A Charter ROLP covers all clients on your boat.

You should register for a Charter ROLP only.

Go to the account management page on our licensing site. Log in using your social security number or driver's license number to find your LDWF license number.

No.

The most common reason for the "Invalid Credentials" error is attempting to log in to a non-existent ROLP account. The license log-in option is an alternative to using email/password, but you must have a ROLP account to use either option. The license log-in option is not the same as your license account, where you purchase and print licenses. If you have never had a ROLP account, you will need to create one and confirm your email address before using the license log-in option. 

There are less common issues that can cause the "Invalid Credentials" error, which impacts those that do have a ROLP account. If you are sure you have or had a ROLP and received the error, please contact LDWF.

*Instructions and screenshots are from Google Chrome running on an Android phone with Android 13. Screens and steps are almost identical in Edge and Firefox.

After clicking on the DOB field on the license log-in option page, a calendar should appear (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

To select a year, tap on the year in the upper left-hand corner of the calendar (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Use the list to find and select the year needed (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

After selecting the year, scroll right or left to find the month needed.

Now, tap on the date needed (Figure 4).

Then tap “Set.”

*Screenshots are from Google Chrome running on an 8th Generation iPad with iOS 16.4.1 (a). Edge was not tested.

Using the Apple Safari web browser, you can type in a DOB by tapping the DOB field. Or, you can tap the year and scroll or type in the year needed and then scroll right or left to locate the month and date needed. The steps are identical in Firefox.

Google Chrome does not allow for typing in a DOB, but there are a couple of ways to do that. One way to enter a DOB using Chrome on an Apple device starts with tapping the DOB field. A calendar should appear (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Scroll left or right to locate the month and date needed. Ignore the year for now. Tap on the date needed, then tap on the month and year in the upper left-hand corner of the calendar (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Scroll to locate the year needed. Tap “Done” (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

The expiration date on your ROLP is independent of your fishing license. The ROLP is valid for 365 days from the date of issuance. Since the ROLP and license databases are separate from one another, the ROLP does not know when the associated license expires. The expiration date on the ROLP concerns only the ROLP. It is common to have a valid ROLP and an expired license. However, both must be current to fish in Louisiana waters legally. 

Unfortunately, not at this time. Making the ROLP available on the LA Wallet app is in the works, but there is currently no timeline for completion.