Exclusive Rights of Pilotage

Division 5, Chapter 1, Article 5 of the California Harbors and Navigation Code deals with the exclusive rights of pilotage for Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun.

Section 1125 provides that pilots licensed by the board have exclusive authority, to the extent not provided otherwise by federal law, to pilot vessels from the high seas to Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun and the ports thereof, and from those bays and ports to the high seas. They also have exclusive authority to pilot vessels within and along the waters of those bays, except as otherwise set forth in this division.

Section 1126 states that a person who does not hold a license as a pilot issued pursuant to this division, and who pilots any vessel into or out of any harbor or port of Monterey Bay and the Bay of San Francisco, San Pablo, or Suisun, or who acts as a pilot for ship movements or special operations upon the waters of any of those bays, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

In addition, a person may also be enjoined from engaging in the pilotage by a court of competent jurisdiction. This section does not apply to any of five specified persons. One exemption does not apply in instances in which a state licensed pilot refuses to join a vessel because of suspected safety violations concerning that vessel’s pilot hoists or pilot ladders.