(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in commercial fishing with a boat or vessel in the salt waters of this state without first obtaining a valid commercial fishing boat license for the boat or vessel. The owner or operator of the boat or vessel shall present in writing an application for the license, setting forth such data and information as the department shall require. The application shall be made upon a form prescribed by the department and shall be under oath and duly witnessed by an officer authorized by law to administer oaths.

(b) Fees for licenses required under this Code section shall be as follows:

(1) A trawler (which shall be any boat or vessel which utilizes one or more trawls or power-drawn nets in the taking of shrimp, crabs, or fish), up to and including 18 feet in overall length: $85.00;

(2) A trawler more than 18 feet in overall length: $85.00 plus $3.00 per foot or fraction thereof of overall length in excess of 18 feet; and

(3) All boats other than trawlers, regardless of length: $5.00.

(c) To defray the additional cost of regulating and policing, aliens and nonresidents shall be charged a license fee in addition to that provided by subsection (b) of this Code section in the amount of $150.00 for each trawl boat or vessel used and $50.00 for each boat or vessel other than a trawler used in commercial fishing or in the taking of seafood, which boat or vessel is owned, in whole or part, by such nonresident or alien, provided that, in the event such nonresident or alien applying for the license is a resident of another state which charges nonresidents a license fee greater than the total license fee charged for nonresidents in this state, then the additional license fee provided for nonresidents in this subsection shall be increased to the amount necessary to cause the Georgia nonresident license fee to be the same amount as the nonresident license fee of such other state.

(d) The owner or operator of a trawler licensed according to subsection (b) of this Code section may purchase a trawler crew license as provided for in subparagraphs (W) and (X) of paragraph (8) of Code Section 27-2-23. Such license shall cover all crew members aboard the trawler while fishing, and all such crew members while so covered shall be exempt from the personal commercial fishing license requirements otherwise applicable under this title. Such trawler crew license shall be separate and distinct from any other license, shall be valid only for the trawler for which it is purchased, and shall not be transferable to any other trawler or vessel. Such trawler crew license shall be valid for a fishing year as provided for in Code Section 27-2-3 and shall be carried onboard the trawler while the trawler is in operation for purposes of the trawler crew license.