On March 27, 2026, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and its Division of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) announced an increase in recreational bag limits for bluefish. As per the official notice titled Change in Recreational Bluefish Regulations, the new bluefish regulations increase 2026 and 2027 possession limits to five bluefish for private boat and shore-based anglers, and seven bluefish for for-hire anglers.
If you didn’t click on that for-hire anglers link in the NJDEP/DFW email blast, you might not be aware of who in the for-hire community actually qualifies for this seven-fish bag limit. As explained by the NDEP/DFW in their bluefish for-hire regulations document, “Any angler fishing from a charter/party vessel, captained by a properly credentialed operator with a valid USCG endorsement and valid Federal party/charter permit, may land seven fish, including the captain and his mates.”
“A properly credentialed operator with a valid USCG endorsement,” means that anyone running fishing charters in New Jersey marine waters must have their U.S. Coast Guard approved operator’s license, either the OUPV (Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels) allowing a captain to carry up to six paying passengers on uninspected vessels under 100 gross tons, OR a Master’s license, does not have any restrictions on number of passengers onboard, and allows operation of inspected or uninspected vessels.
But, in addition to the USCG endorsement, a captain must also have a “valid Federal party/charter permit,” which means the federal for-hire permit required to carry paid passengers recreational fishing beyond 3 miles from shore. Other items laid out as bullet points in the official notice from NDEP/DFW in terms of important notes regarding for-hire trips:
- Federal law restricts captains and their mates from pooling catch.
- If a charter/party boat holds a federal commercial permit, they are subject to a seven-fish limit when carrying passengers for hire.
- Private recreational vessels not fishing under a bluefish commercial permit or charter vessel permit may land five fish (per person).
- The owner, operator and crew of a charter/party boat issued a bluefish commercial permit are not subject to the recreational possession limit when not carrying passengers for hire and when the crew size does not exceed five for a party boat and three for a charter boat (these are commercial trips, and the commercial 9-inch minimum size limit applies).
So, if you have your six-pack charter license, you’re not automatically qualified for the seven-fish bag limit for the 2026 and 2027 bluefish fishery. You must also have a valid Greater Atlantic Region Vessel Charter/Party Permit which allows you to operate as a for-hire captain when fishing in federal waters (3 to 200 nautical miles offshore) for Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, Scup, or Bluefish.
Federal for-hire permits are also required for Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish; Golden/Blueline Tilefish north of the North Carolina/Virginia border; Chub Mackerel north of the South Carolina/North Carolina border as of January 2020; New England Groundfish including cod, haddock, pollock, hakes, and flounders; and Lobster. All of the necessary federal operating permits can be found at NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Field Office (GARFO) by calling 978-282-8438 or via email at NMFS.GAR.Permits@noaa.gov. According to GARFO, all permits are free and are issued within 30 days of receipt of completed application.
Federally permitted vessels also must keep daily catch records, inside and outside of 3 miles, whenever they fish, either personally or professionally. These daily vessel trip reports get posted electronically at the end of each day’s fishing, hence the acronym eVTR. I know many private anglers are ticked off about the difference in bag limits – from a fairness perspective – but it’s that daily eVTR accounting for catch and effort on every single trip that sets some apart from the rest. And it’s the basis of the ongoing “sector separation” debate, and what is known as a “mode split” in the recreational fishery.
