New Jersey legislators have introduced several bills in Trenton related to fishing and fisheries management. I know some readers prefer to keep “fish” and “politics” separated, but a quick legislative search yields dozens of active “fish” bills in Trenton proving that the two subjects are indeed connected. For anglers who prefer to know how their fish sausages get stuffed, and by whom, this is for you.
To stay on top of “fish” legislation, bookmark www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search. That’s the New Jersey Legislature homepage where the public can search for active bills and keep track on them along the way to possibly becoming law. If you know the actual bill number – like senate bill S4317 or assembly version A4940 that would, if approved, lift the cap on the number of beach buggy permits issued annually at Island Beach State Park – simply type the number into the search box at the top of the table.
By default the table gives you the current legislative session (2026-2027 Session), but you can also adjust the timeframe to search previous years. You can also query by Subject or bill Sponsor. By far the easiest way to track assembly and senate bills in New Jersey is by typing something simple like “fish” in the Keywords field before hitting the Submit button. At last check, there are 46 different bills in play in Trenton with “fish” in the legislative description.
For example, Assemblywoman Annette Quijano from Elizabeth sponsored A2005 to sack three hunters and anglers from New Jersey’s Fish and Game Council, replacing them with three members of animal welfare organizations. Imagine having three PETA votes on hunting, trapping or freshwater fisheries issues. Thankfully, the senate version (S471) sponsored by Senator Brian P. Stack from West New York was withdrawn from consideration on May 21.
Then there’s A695 sponsored by assembly reps Gregory P. McGuckin of Brick and Jay Webber of Parsippany, clarifying that a fishing license is not required to fish at a private community lake; that bill is sponsored in the state senate (S87) by Senator James Holzapfel of Brick. I think “clarifying” is tantamount to “codifying” as the concept of fishing upon one’s own private property is somewhat of a gray area.
On the menhaden front, the commercial bait industry is hoping to allow vacuum pumps to be used for removing menhaden from purse seines. Currently, commercial harvesters are required to use brailing or dip nets to bring their purse-seined bunker aboard. The assembly bill (A4946) is cosponsored by Cody Miller of Turnersville and Heather Simmons of Glassboro, while Senator Paul Moriarty of Turnersville sponsored the senate version (S3423). I’m not exactly sure of the impact this legislation might have on nearshore bunker populations if bait boats operating inside of 3 miles were made more efficient through use of vacuum pumps. But if I’m not mistaken, New Jersey bait harvesters are already landing more menhaden each year than the reduction industry did in any single year before being banned by 2002 state law.
Another interesting bit of legislation is a “freedom to fish and hunt” bill proposing a constitutional amendment in New Jersey to preserve right of people to fish, hunt, trap and harvest fish and wildlife in the state. Sponsored in the senate (SCR37) by Parker Space of Sparta, there’s currently no assembly version, though assembly reps Dawn Fantasia and Michael Inganamort, both also of Sparta, cosponsored it in the 2024-2025 Session.
Support or oppose these bills? Tell your senate and assembly reps! Find them here.
