Hey NJ fishermen

Jstas

If you go saltwater fishing, NJDEP is requiring you to register now and carry the registration with you when you are out on the surf or seas fishing. It's a free registration and it's being used to collect data on how recreational fishing affects the environment. It's also helping NOAA to gain better access to information on local fisheries without having to do a massive, expensive study that takes time and is usually out of date before it even starts.

So if you're gonna go saltwater fishing, register. If you live in another state, since this is a national effort with NOAA behind it, check your local state laws. You may need to register with your state as well. If your state doesn't have a program, you will have to register with the federal level program and it costs $15. All states have to comply with that. If you live in NJ, NJ's DEP already collects all this data and has measures in place that exceed NOAA's requirements. So they took the option to create their own program so that NJ anglers don't have to fork over $15 for something their tax dollars already pay for. Lucky us!

Yes, I know, all you paranoid folks out there are going piss and moan about government involvement and tracking in your life. Whatever. You know what? I'm all for this. I've actually talked to NOAA scientists out on the back bays of NJ while fishing. They've asked questions and found that their collected data doesn't always jive completely with what the fishermen are seeing. It's been suggested by many people to use the resource of the local professional and recreational fisherman to gain more accurate and up to date fishery info. I'm glad to see they are doing it because it will help with everything from poaching to better fishery management, species preservation and environmental protection. I love going fishing and I support any measure we can take for responsible sportsmanship.

So, check things out and make sure you're compliant if you're going out on the water. I hear that when the plan becomes "known" there will be fines and they will be steep.

http://www.nj.gov/dep/saltwaterregistry/index.html

The NOAA program if you're not in NJ and your state doesn't have a program:

https://www.countmyfish.noaa.gov/register/home.jsp

mrbiron

I'm all for the NOAA as well being a big surf cast fisher. The card was free last year during it's infancy. Let's just hope that nobody decides to try and profit off of this and jack the card price up to some ridiculous amount. $15 is a drop in the bucket...

Jstas, i don't know what the waters are like down there in the tropics of NJ, stipers run through yet or are you after some other big game?

amulford

I like the fact of registration, as long as it's used for data collection. But you know it's just a step towards licensing and associated fees. This is **** New Jersey, don't ya know.

The upstream striper run is dwindling. They're up in the spawning beds getting all romantic. The season closes April 1, anyway, so let 'em go make babies...

pearsall001

It's fishing for god's sake...leave people alone! Data my ****, just another way for them to try to justify their intrusion. The fish were here long before we ever came along & they sure as hell will still be here long after we're gone.

All this nonsence & I rarely even fish.

mrbiron

They're pulling some decent sized stripers out of the canal between the mainland and the cape up here.

Jstas

amulford wrote: »

I like the fact of registration, as long as it's used for data collection. But you know it's just a step towards licensing and associated fees. This is **** New Jersey, don't ya know.

The upstream striper run is dwindling. They're up in the spawning beds getting all romantic. The season closes April 1, anyway, so let 'em go make babies...

pearsall001 wrote: »

It's fishing for god's sake...leave people alone! Data my ****, just another way for them to try to justify their intrusion. The fish were here long before we ever came along & they sure as hell will still be here long after we're gone.

All this nonsence & I rarely even fish.

Guys, the Federal program costs $15. NJ Department of Environmental protection has been doing the same thing that NOAA wants to do for years now. You can thank Gov. Christie for having some common sense and having the NJDEP set up their own registration program so you don't have to pay the fees for a program already supported by your tax dollars.

Also, most game and fisheries in NJ require some sort of registration at this point anyway. So with this method, you won't need individual tags anymore. You'll still need licenses for specific stuff like clams and such though.

And no, it's not a way to justify their intrusion. Yeah the fish were here long before us but if things keep going the way they are, the fish won't be here much longer at all. We need to work to sustain the fisheries and if it means that you have to be registered to fish then that's what it means.


And mrbiron, all fishing in NJ requires this registration and in some cases a license. I don't go after anything in particular but if I head down to my friend's place and he wants to take the boat out for a run on the crab pots or just to see what we can find at the inlet when the tide is going out then I need this registration. Otherwise, I could be fined and my entire catch and his confiscated.

As far as striper, I haven't been down for striper in the past 3 seasons. It's gotten really restrictive here and I just don't always have the time to go. I will usually get down in the summer for fluke season or to go fish the wrecks, reefs and sand bars. Sometimes, I go just to sit on the boat and get the hell away from everyone and everything. I go out with the intent to fish but some times I just sit back, put my hat over my eyes and take a nap without ever even touching a fishing rod.