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Free Licence for Residents with Disabilities
Massachusetts has no veteran-specific licence — but a paraplegic resident pays nothing for a sporting, hunting or fishing licence, and a blind resident pays nothing to fish.
Verified August 18, 2026
What this benefit is
Massachusetts has no veteran-specific licence — but a paraplegic resident pays nothing for a sporting, hunting or fishing licence, and a blind resident pays nothing to fish.
What it's worth: No licence fee — which licence depends on which condition you meet
- Paraplegia carries the widest exemption: a sporting, hunting or fishing licence. Blindness, intellectual disability and being under eighteen carry the fishing licence only. Age seventy or over carries any licence issued under the section.
Who is entitled to it
- You are paraplegic — this is the widest route, covering a sporting, hunting or fishing licence.
- You are over seventy — no fee is charged for any licence issued under the section.
- You are blind — the fishing licence is free.
- You are a resident citizen of the Commonwealth.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
- 1Send the free-licence application and a letter from a physician documenting the condition to the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, ATTN: Licensing, 251 Causeway St., Suite 400, Boston MA 02114. A VA rating letter is not the evidence this asks for — the test is medical, not service-connected.
- 2If you are blind, send a copy of the Certificate of Blindness issued by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind instead of a doctor’s letter — the agency names that certificate specifically.
- 3Expect to wait for the post. A first-time applicant cannot buy the discounted licence online; the licence is mailed to you after pre-approval.
- 4After the first approval, renew through MassFishHunt online rather than on paper.
- 5Budget the $5 Wildlands Conservation Stamp even when the licence itself is free — the agency states its prices do not include it, and it is added to the first resident licence bought each year.
- 6If you are a nonresident and paraplegic, apply anyway — the agency’s own fee schedule prices Sporting and Hunting paraplegic licences as "Resident/Non-resident" and free.
- Form
- Disabled licence application
- File with
- The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Boston office — on paper the first time
- Annual
- Claimed once a year.
CorrectionThis is not a veteran benefit and no veteran-specific licence was found. A veteran reaches it through the disability, which means a 100%-rated veteran whose condition is not one of those listed gets nothing here, and a 10%-rated veteran who is paraplegic gets the widest version.
Worth knowingThe evidence is a physician’s letter, not a VA rating decision. Sending the VA paperwork instead is the most likely reason a first application comes back.
Worth knowingParaplegia is the only route open to a nonresident, and only where that person’s home state provides a reciprocal privilege to similarly affected Massachusetts residents. We gate this record on Massachusetts residence and record the nonresident route here.
Known gapWe model the paraplegia, age and blindness routes. The intellectual-disability and under-eighteen routes are in the statute and carry the fishing licence, and we do not hold questions for either.
CorrectionFree is not quite free. The agency’s 2026 fee schedule states that its listed prices do not include the $5 Wildlands Conservation Stamp, which is added to the first resident licence bought each year and to every non-resident licence. A free licence therefore still costs $5 the first time each year, plus the $2.75 administrative fee and any agent or online convenience charge if you do not buy at an agency office.
CorrectionThe discounted and free licences are open only to United States citizens — the agency states that restriction under every fee table. It is not in the disability test itself and it catches lawful permanent residents who would otherwise qualify.
Worth knowingThe two free routes are not the same size. At age 70 or over both the Fishing licence and the Sporting licence — hunting and fishing together, with trapping included and two statewide antlered deer tags — are free. Paraplegia carries free Fishing, Sporting and Hunting licences. Blindness and intellectual disability carry the free Fishing licence only.
Known gapThe section text itself could not be read on 23 August 2026: malegislature.gov refused the connection to the browser and to curl at https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIX/Chapter131/Section11, and the agency’s own how-to page at https://www.mass.gov/how-to/freshwater-fishing-and-hunting-licenses-for-people-with-disabilities returned a 503 on repeated attempts. This record now rests on the administering agency’s published fee schedule and application guidance rather than on statute text, which is why it is tier B.
Sources
- authority · fee scheduleDivision of Fisheries and Wildlife — License types and fees, 2026 schedule: Resident Fishing free at age 70 or over "or paraplegic, blind, intellectually disabled"; Resident Sporting free at age 70 or over including trapping; Resident/Non-resident Sporting, Paraplegic free; Resident/Non-resident Hunting, Paraplegic free; discounted licences available only to United States citizens; the $5 Wildlands Conservation Stamp is not included in any listed price; first-time applicants require pre-approval and cannot buy online (implementing M.G.L. c.131 §11)
- operating · published policyDivision of Fisheries and Wildlife — Who needs a freshwater fishing license?: the first-time application route for residents who are blind, have an intellectual disability or have paraplegia — the free-licence application, a Certificate of Blindness from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind or a doctor’s certification of intellectual disability or paraplegia, posted to MassWildlife Licensing at 251 Causeway St., Suite 400, Boston MA 02114, with the licence returned by post and online renewal thereafter
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.