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New Jersey Governor Signs Free Fishing Registry Bill

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. (AP) — Casting a line into the ocean in New Jersey will still be free after Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Tuesday that lets the state's saltwater anglers avoid a $15 federal fee.

The new law sets up a free state-run registry to comply with a federal data-collection plan to determine who's catching what. Had Christie vetoed the bill, many saltwater fishermen could have been forced to pay a $15 fee to be a part of the National Saltwater Angler Registry.

Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said New Jersey will now be the only coastal state without either a required saltwater fishing license or a state registry fee.

"The governor did the right thing here,'' Donofrio said. "He heard us loud and clear: We don't want any more fees or any new taxes.''

The bill was written in response to a federal law — the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act — that directed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a National Saltwater Angler Registry Program.

The purpose of the new registry was to create a national database to identify saltwater anglers that could be surveyed by NOAA for research purposes. Congress also authorized NOAA to begin charging recreational anglers a fee to cover administration costs associated with the registry beginning last month.

Coastal states were given the option of creating their own registries and applying for exemption from the federal program. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection wanted to charge a $5 fee to help run a state registry, but fishermen and many elected officials fought back.

"New Jerseyans are already over-burdened with high taxes, tolls and fees,'' said state Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May. "At a time when residents are struggling to pay their property taxes and other escalating costs, it will be nice to be able to say that New Jersey is still a place where someone can go out on the ocean, and throw a line in the water for free.''

Some environmentalists favored a $5 state fee, saying that having the DEP absorb the $400,000 cost of running the registry will use money that could have funded other needed projects.

But Donofrio said New Jersey got it exactly right.

"The governor recognized that this registry was created for exactly what the federal government wanted: a way to collect reliable data and not to be a cash revenue source for the DEP,'' he said.

He said the alliance has seen that in states where a fishing license or a registry fee is imposed, the amount of people fishing declines.

Striped bass season in bays and rivers begins March 1 in New Jersey.

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