(a) Any owner desiring to obtain a vessel registration number or registration decal shall apply to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and shall file such proof of ownership of the vessel as the commissioner may require. Upon receipt of an application in proper form and the numbering fee, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall assign a registration number or registration decal and provide the owner with a temporary certificate of number or temporary certificate of decal. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall issue two registration decals and a permanent certificate. A registration decal shall be displayed on each side of the vessel at the bow in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection. The certificate shall state the name of the owner, his address, a description of the vessel, its hull identification number, the expiration date of the certificate and such other information as the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may prescribe by regulations. Such certificate shall be carried aboard and shall be available for inspection upon the vessel for which it is issued whenever the owner or any person authorized by him is aboard such vessel, except that the certificate of number for a vessel which is less than twenty-six feet and which is rented for noncommercial purposes for less than twenty-four hours may be retained on shore by the owner of such vessel or his agent at the place where such vessel departs or returns. If such certificate is retained on shore, a rental agreement signed by the owner or his agent and by the person renting the vessel shall be carried aboard such vessel and shall be available for inspection. Such rental agreement shall contain the vessel number which appears on the certificate of number and the length of time for which such vessel is rented.

(b) (1) The owner shall pay a fee to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles for deposit with the State Treasurer for each vessel so numbered or registered in accordance with the following schedule and subdivisions of this subsection:

For purposes of this schedule “overall length” is the horizontal distance between the foremost part of the stem and the aftermost part of the stern, excluding bowsprits, bumpkins, rudders, outboard motor brackets and similar fittings or attachments. (2) The fee payable under this subsection with respect to any vessel used primarily for purposes of commercial fishing shall not exceed twenty-five dollars, provided in the tax year of the owner of such vessel ending immediately preceding the date of registration, not less than fifty per cent of the adjusted gross income of such owner as determined for purposes of the federal income tax is derived from commercial fishing, subject to proof satisfactory to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. (3) The fee payable under this subsection with respect to any vessel constructed primarily of wood, the construction of which is completed not less than fifteen years prior to the date such fee is paid, shall be in an amount equal to fifty per cent of the fee otherwise payable, or if such construction is completed not less than twenty-five years prior to the date such fee is paid, such fee shall be in an amount equal to twenty-five per cent of the fee otherwise payable. (4) Fees payable under this subsection shall not be required with respect to (A) any vessel owned by a flotilla of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary or owned by a nonprofit corporation acting on behalf of such a flotilla, provided no more than two vessels from any such flotilla or nonprofit corporation shall be granted such an exemption, and (B) any vessel built by students in an educational institution and used for the purposes of such institution, including such research as may require the use of such vessel. (5) The fee payable under this subsection with respect to any pontoon boat, exclusive of any houseboat, shall be forty dollars. (6) The fee payable under this subsection with respect to any canoe with a motor or any vessel owned by a nonprofit organization shall be seven dollars and fifty cents. (7) The fee payable under this subsection with respect to any vessel less than fifteen feet in length equipped with a motor the horsepower of which is less than fifteen, shall be seven dollars and fifty cents. (8) The owner of any vessel used actively, as required under this subdivision, in operational activities of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary shall not be required to pay the applicable fee in accordance with the schedule in this subsection, provided (A) if the applicable fee under the schedule for such vessel is greater than one hundred eighty dollars, the owner shall be required to pay the amount of fee in excess of one hundred eighty dollars, and (B) the owner shall not be entitled to exemption from the applicable fee as allowed in this subdivision for any vessel registration year unless the application for registration of such vessel includes a statement, certified by an officer of the United States Coast Guard, that in the preceding year such vessel was used actively in not less than three separate operational activities of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. (9) Beginning May 4, 2011, all revenue received by the state in fees for the numbering and registration of vessels under this section shall be deposited with the Treasurer who shall deposit such revenue in the General Fund.

(c) The owner shall cause the registration number or registration decal to be displayed on each side of the vessel at the bow in such manner as the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection prescribes. The number shall be maintained in a legible condition and shall be clearly visible and entirely unobscured. No number other than the registration number assigned by this state or by the United States or by another state pursuant to the provisions of the federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 shall be displayed on either side of a vessel at the bow.

(d) Each certificate of number and certificate of registration issued by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall expire on the last day of April of the year following its issuance. At least thirty days prior to the expiration date of each certificate, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may notify the owner, in a manner determined by the commissioner, of such expiration and the certificate may be renewed as prescribed by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles upon application and upon payment of the fee provided in subsection (b) of this section. The commissioner shall not provide such notification by mail to the registrant if the United States Postal Service has determined that mail is undeliverable to the address that is documented in the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles for such person. The registration number assigned to a vessel shall remain the same as long as the vessel is registered in this state.

(e) (1) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may permit marine dealers, as defined in § 15-141, to assign registration numbers and issue certificates of number upon the sale or transfer of a vessel. The dealer shall within ten days from the issuance of such certificate submit to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles an application together with all necessary documents, information and fees corresponding to the certificate of number issued for the vessel transfer.

(2) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may permit such marine dealers to issue certificates of decal upon the sale or transfer of a documented vessel. The dealer shall within ten days from the issuance of such certificate submit to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles an application together with all necessary documents, information and fees corresponding to the certificate of decal issued for such vessel.

(3) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall permit marine dealers to submit the applications and documents required under subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection by electronic means. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this subdivision.

(f) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may require the owner of any vessel to submit as part of his application such information concerning waste discharges and onboard waste disposal systems as the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may prescribe by regulations. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall promptly forward to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection any such information submitted to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles as part of an application.

(g) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may adopt such regulations as are reasonably necessary to carry out his powers, duties and functions under this chapter.

(h) (1) Any person who operates or any owner who permits the operation of a vessel on the waters of this state which has not been numbered or registered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and any other applicable section of the general statutes shall have committed a violation and shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars or more than two hundred dollars for the first offense and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than five hundred dollars. (2) No person shall use any vessel registration or registration decals that have been issued to another person pursuant to sections 15-142 to 15-144, inclusive. No person shall use a vessel registration or registration decals on any vessel other than the vessel for which such registration number or registration decals have been issued. Any person who violates any provision of this subdivision shall be fined not more than two hundred fifty dollars. (3) Any officer empowered to enforce the provisions of this chapter and any other applicable section of the general statutes who finds a vessel which is not numbered or registered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and such discovery is subsequent to a violation of this chapter may make application to the court for a warrant to seize such vessel and take it into custody pending proof of payment of proper numbering or registration fees. No officer shall be liable for any act performed under the provisions of this subsection.