DOVER, DELAWARE (10/15/2015) A state online auction of low-digit surf fishing tags begins at 9 a.m. today.
The online auction will offer surf tag numbers 9, 15, 19, 30, 40, 47, 55, 72, 80, 201, 222, 250, 302, 410, 450.
Other low numbers are being held for future auctions, including a live auction Oct. 31 at Delaware Seashore State Park.
A new law allows the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to auction off the plates to the highest bidder.
The department “has historically sold numbered surf-fishing license plates, but the process became a challenge to administer. This approach allows enthusiasts to participate in the process where the market determines the tags’ value,” said DNREC Secretary David Small.
The public will still be able to get a non-numbered surf tag when they purchase the annual surf-fishing permit, which costs $80 for Delawareans and $160 for non-residents.
“Delawareans have an affinity for low-digit license plates, and the surf tags are an opportunity for surf fishermen and tag collectors to bid high and see how low they can go in getting a coveted low-numbered plate,” said Ray Bivens, director of DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation/Delaware State Parks.
The minimum bid for purchasing one of the tags is $250, the retail cost of the low-digit plates. The online auction bidding at www.usgovbid.com ends at 7 p.m. Nov. 1.
A live auction Oct. 31 at Delaware Seashore State Park will be held during the barbecue event “Boooo-B-Que by the Sea.”
That auction will offer the lowest-numbered surf-fishing tags to be sold this year, numbers 2, 8 and 9 and also will mark the first and only time that three single-digit Delaware surf-fishing tags will be sold at a single auction.
State Rep. Dave Wilson will be guest auctioneer for the first low-digit plate sold in the state and also will make the call for the last plate included in the live auction, Delaware Surf-Fishing Tag No. 2.
Prospective bidders must put down a $200 deposit at the live auction to bid on the low-numbered tags. As with the online auction, bidding begins at $250.
The live auction will also have three “choice” plates up for bid – meaning an auction winner for one of the plates can choose from a numerical range from 31 to 91, with certain numbers excluded for later auction; the winner of an auction for another low-number plate can choose from a range of surf tag numbers 102 through 299 (again with exclusions), and a third auction winner’s choice can be made from numbers from 301 through 399 (with Nos. 302, 333 and 350 excluded).
Tag numbers 200 and lower are reserved for Delaware-registered vehicles.
Delaware Surf-Fishing Tag No. 1 will be sold at live auction next year.
Both the online and live auctions are organized and run by Auction List Services of Eatontown, New Jersey.
year of the Division of Parks & Recreation’s auctions. The minimum bid for purchasing one of the tags – with numbers to be sold this year ranging from Delaware Surf-Fishing Tag No. 2 to 450, with some numbers held back for future actions – is $250, the retail cost of the low-digit plates.
Auctions of low-digit surf-fishing t
More information online or call 302-739-9200.