The high demand for standard surf-fishing permits was evident Tuesday, as the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said the 17,000 available for 2022 sold out just four hours after hitting the market.

The cap on the standard permits — established three years ago — has been a source of controversy since then. On Tuesday, long lines at state park offices and a crashing website prevented many from securing their passes, including some firefighters, who are allowed to obtain them for free by law.

“We did what we could to prepare in advance,” said Shauna McVey, Delaware State Parks community relations coordinator. “Permits are issued on a first-come, first-served basis, and no one is guaranteed a permit. If the website had not experienced issues (Tuesday), all standard permits would have sold out even faster.”

In 2019, the Delaware Parks and Recreation Advisory Council implemented a cap of 17,000 standard surf-fishing permits to be sold each year. Subsequently, DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation implemented a first-come, first-served policy for the sale of the tags.

According to DNREC, the goal of these policies was to efficiently serve beachgoers and to prevent overcrowding of the state’s beaches.

Some of the debate Tuesday stemmed from the inability of firefighters to secure their permits. According to Delaware law, volunteer firefighters, active volunteer EMTs or life members of volunteer fire departments are authorized a standard surf-fishing permit free of cost.

It’s an issue that Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, has made a priority to fix. In a Facebook post Tuesday night, the senator acknowledged the controversy surrounding the availability of permits for firefighters, as well as his desire to get the problem resolved.

“Most in our volunteer firefighter community have jobs during the day. At no point did they think they would have to take off work in order to get their tags,” he said. “Again, we have to do better.”

Sen. Pettyjohn said Wednesday that he plans to meet with DNREC soon to come up with a resolution.

“Codified entitlement for those volunteers is why, regardless of a cap that DNREC may place on tags, they should receive their tags, and receive them without charge,” he said.

Though the standard permits are no longer available, off-peak surf-fishing tags — which allow holders to fish every day except summer weekends and holidays — are still for sale. These permits allow fishing every day during the offseason, Feb. 1-March 29 and Sept. 6-Dec. 31.

All permit holders are also given free entry into Delaware State Parks.

For those who couldn’t buy a standard permit this week, off-peak tags are available for Delaware residents at a cost of $70, while out-of-state residents can purchase them for $140.