Is it Legal ??

[Detour66]

Does anyone know if it's legal for CO's to search your non-commercial boat for fish or anything else with a warrant or probable cause? It is a registered vehicle just like you car and I do know that you can refuse to have your car searched without a warrant. Why would a boat be any different?

[Fishin Dude]

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf...n_in_warr.html

Fishing poles/equipment might be enough for probable cause, but I'm not an attorney and hope that I don't need one.

[CHfisher17]

Originally Posted by Detour66

Does anyone know if it's legal for CO's to search your non-commercial boat for fish or anything else with a warrant or probable cause? It is a registered vehicle just like you car and I do know that you can refuse to have your car searched without a warrant. Why would a boat be any different?

I did some research on this a few years back. From the top of my head, this is basically what I remember:

Game and wildlife officers have special search privileges. They are treated differently under the law than your average law enforcement officer. If I remember correctly, all they need is "reasonable suspicion" that a wildlife law was broken and that's enough. No warrant needed. Btw reasonable suspicion is a very low standard, it's what cops need to pull u over for a traffic ticket.