Are you registered to fish in marine waters? According to the most recent stats released by the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife, not everyone who fishes the marine waters of New Jersey is legally registered to do so. In fact, according to the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife (Division), there were only 117,809 individuals registered to fish in marine waters through the end of 2024, with a total of 1,264 for-hire vessels.
Yet, according to NOAA Fisheries estimates through the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) the number of saltwater anglers in New Jersey is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million persons.
The saltwater registration requirement has been in place since January of 2010 under federal law (Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006) that requires the federal government to create a national registry of saltwater anglers. Unlike in freshwater fisheries, it’s absolutely free to register in New Jersey to fish marine waters. And individuals who get caught fishing in saltwater without registered are subject to a fine.
Last year the Division updated the licensing process to merge the marine database with the accounts for New Jersey hunters and anglers.
Remember that saltwater registration certificates will not be mailed and will need to be printed from the licensing page on your home or office computer. Registration certificates can be saved to a computer and/or accessed by logging into your customer profile, where you can reprint as many times as needed.
If you already have a customer profile, you will simply login using your last name and date of birth (DOB) and then click the Saltwater Registry button to ‘purchase’ a free Saltwater Registration (individual or for-hire).
If you are new to the licensing system, you will need to fill out your contact information and then proceed to ‘purchase’ your free Saltwater Registration and/or any other licenses you may need. After signing up, you will be able to access your customer profile by logging in using your last name and DOB. Anyone over the age of 18 will need to provide the online system with their Driver’s License Number or their State Issued ID card number.
If you have questions, contact Marine Fisheries staff by emailing saltwaterregistry@dep.nj.gov or by phone at 609-748-2020. To secure your fishing license and/or registration, along with your 2025 trout stamp, go to nj.aspirafocus.com/internetsales; you can also go to saltwaterregistry.nj.gov and select the Register button on the right-hand side of the page.
To get your Delaware license go to dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/licenses, while Pennsylvania fishing licenses can be found on the homepage at fishandboat.com.
Remember, when you’re fishing across state lines, the waters where you are at any point are the rules and regulations you need to follow; that’s the same with season, size and bag limit requirements as well as for license and/or registration (except on the Delaware River where New Jersey and Pennsylvania have a reciprocation agreement for freshwater licenses).
