Boat Registrations and Transfers

 All motorboats are required to be registered.  

Motorboat registration or titling is similar to registering or titling a car. Boat registrations and titles are issued by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Give us a call to find out if your boat needs to be registered or titled.

Unpowered boats need to be properly registered or display a valid Commission or DCNR launch permit to use Commission lakes or access areas, PA state parks and PA state forests. If your boat is registered, renewal reminders make it easy to keep your boat up to date. Registration helps in recovering a lost or stolen boat; launch permits do not. Every state recognizes a valid PA boat registration. Launch permits may not be accepted in all states.  

New Registrations

Preferred Option:

Call us or stop down today to submit your registration application and get a temporary registration. This allows the boat to be used while the permanent registration is being processed. (The application form becomes the temporary registration.) 

Alternative Options:

Mail in Application – Can Take 60 days.

Visit PFBC Headquarters:  Take application and the supporting documents to PFBC Headquarters (1601 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110). 

Renewals

Boat registrations are renewed on a 2-year cycle and expire on March 31 of the 2nd year. The Commission will send a renewal card to the registered owner of the boat before expiration. Call us or Stop down today to renew your registration

Launch Permits

Unpowered boats need to be properly registered or display a valid Commission or DCNR launch permit to use Commission lakes or access areas, PA state parks and PA state forests.