(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: