The time has come to legalize surf shark fishing at the Jersey Shore!
The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (Council) will meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 9th at the Galloway Township Branch of the Atlantic County Library at 306 East Jimmie Leeds Road. If you like catching sharks on the beach during the summer – or perhaps, more importantly, you wish you could – I hope to see you there!
Two years ago I wrote an editor’s log called Legalize Surf Sharking, in which I referenced a NOAA Fisheries supported paper compiled by researchers from the New England Aquarium, University of Massachusetts, and Harvard University. The study noted, quote, “Directed land-based recreational catch-and-release fishing for sandbar sharks (carcharhinus plumbeus) is growing in popularity in Massachusetts.”
The obvious question is, if directed land-based catch and release fishing for brown sharks and sand tigers is a popular and allowable activity in Massachusetts, then why shouldn’t it also be allowed in New Jersey? That same 2024 editorial had a quote from Karyl Brewster-Geisz, branch chief of rulemaking within NOAA’s Highly Migratory Species Management Division, stating “The regulations are different in every state.”
Brewster-Geisz told me “I do not know if Massachusetts allows anglers to target prohibited species.” Essentially, NOAA doesn’t care one way or the other! While she did confirm that anglers fishing in federal waters “are not allowed to target prohibited shark species (with the exception of white sharks)” outside of 3 miles, she left the legality around a targeted catch-and-release fishery for federally restricted species from the beach and inshore waters up to the states. “Individual states manage the shark fisheries within state waters,” she noted, and that’s exactly what the state of New Jersey should do.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and its Division of Fish & Wildlife have always erred on the side of precaution in the surf shark fishery, deferring to the federal government. But since the federal government has clearly thrown it back to NJDEP to decide, the time has come to err on the side of recreational fishing in New Jersey, and the recreational fishing industry.
Case in point – in speaking with the folks from Okuma about their new product releases in advance of this month’s ICAST event in Orlando, one item that piqued my interest was their new Makaira LBS Custom Rod Series. As my friends at Okuma told me, the rod was engineered in collaboration with land-based shark fishing professionals, “Their input shaped every detail, resulting in a rod designed to perform under relentless pressure.”
In a nutshell, surfcasters in other states are driving tackle innovation and enjoying a robust shark fishery, yet here in New Jersey the answer has always been “no way, can’t do it.” But NJDEP can do it, and the time has come to do so!
The general sentiment around the Council table seems to be that members would like to see some type of sensible, and responsible access to the land-based shark fishery. And 2 years after my last editor’s log led a couple of surfcasters into the Council meeting – NOAA quotes in hand – we may be get another shot at this land-based fishery for sandbars and sand tigers in Galloway on July 9th.
I’ll have details to share in my weekly video fishing forecast at thefisherman.com on July 2 once the Council agenda is released; that YouTube video goes live every Thursday at noon, and is available on our homepage. But I’m told that the Council plans to address surf shark fishing on July 9th, with a leading state shark scientist and members of law enforcement talking about how to bring New Jersey in line with other Atlantic Coast states who’ve already figured out a way to allow surfcasters to responsibly target, catch, and release sharks.
Like I said, the time has come.
