The Senate Environment and Energy Committee released a bill that would reduce the penalty for anglers who fail to comply with the State’s newly established saltwater fishing registration requirements.
The bill, S2880, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Van Drew, (D-1), Cape May,
Would lower the penalties for failing to register under a Department of Environmental Protection regulation that took effect in May. To date, 148,000 people have registered.
The original fine for failure to comply with its saltwater fishing registration requirements was set at $300 to $3,000 for a first time offense, and $500 to $5,000 for any subsequent offense.
The penalties were set out in the State’s “Marine Fisheries Management and Commercial Fisheries Act,” to which the registry law was a supplement, anglers have complained that the fines are excessive.
The bill would amend the law to establish a lower penalty for saltwater fishing registration offenses. In particular, the bill would provide that a person who fails to comply with the DEP’s saltwater fishing registration requirements will be subject to the issuance of a warning, except that in the second or subsequent years of the registry program’s operation, such person would be subject, at the discretion of the department, to the issuance of a warning or to a fine of $20.
