A bill which would require the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to first make mobile sport fishing permits available exclusively to New Jersey residents before opening up to out-of-state residents was approved 38-0 by the state Senate on December 18, 2025, potentially paving the way for an Assembly version of the bill to be heard in the Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee.
Senate bill S4775 was introduced in October by Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer) and co-sponsored by Senator Carmen Amato, Jr., (R-Ocean) and would establish an initial 14-day period during which only New Jersey residents may purchase mobile sport fishing permits issued by the NJDEP.
Primary sponsors of the Assembly version of the bill number (A6229) include Assemblyman Anthony S. Verrelli, a Mercer County democrat, along with Assemblymen Brian Rumpf and Gregory Myhre, both republicans from Ocean County and members of the same legislative district as Sen. Amato.
In a joint statement issued by Amato, Rumpf, and Myhre, the 9th District Legislative delegation said they have been forwarding the many messages received from constituents who were unable to secure a permit for the 2026 season since the NJDEP instituted a new electronic lottery system directly to the NJDEP Commissioner’s Office.
“A significant number of our constituents have, for much of their lives, obtained mobile fishing permits without issue and enjoyed long summers at Island Beach State Park, a family tradition for many along the Jersey Shore,” the statement read, adding “Understandably, those who lost out through the new lottery process are extremely disheartened and are rightfully calling for policy changes that put New Jersey residents first.”
“As a matter of basic fairness, access to State parks should prioritize the taxpayers who fund the park system,” the 9th District legislators added.
The basis of our January, 2026 edition editor’s log titled Out With The Old, cited existing state administrative code that states how four-wheel drive mobile sport fishing vehicles (MSFV) are permitted on specifically designated areas of Island Beach State Park for the purpose of surf fishing, provided “An application for a MSFV permit is completed and approved through the Island Beach State Park office; and an approved permit, decal or placard for which the proper fee has been fully paid as provided in N.J.A.C. 7:2-17.3(b) is displayed on or from the MSFV as directed by the Superintendent or designee when on Island Beach State Park.”
The state previously used a first-come, first-served system of in-person permitting whereby applicants would wait outside of Island Beach State Park at the first of the year to wait to pay $195 for residents, $225 for out-of-staters, for one of the 8,000 available permits. However, as reported at NJ.com, competition for permits has grown since COVID, with the state selling out for the first time in 2021, with a new random online lottery implemented in December for 2026 permitting, which state officials said “was supposed to be more fair.”
“We’re trying to keep this as equitable as possible, give everybody a chance,” said John Cecil, NJDEP assistant commissioner of state parks, forests and historic sites in the NJ.com piece. Many anglers, however, have questions as to the actual fairness of this new process, and particularly the lack of transparency by which the online lottery system was implemented.
“The ‘everybody’ for mobile sportfishing permits should be registered saltwater anglers,” said George Browne, Public Access Chair for the Berkeley Striper Club and a member of the New Jerey Beach Buggy Association. Browne echoed the comments made by others emailing The Fisherman in recent weeks – many, many others on social media – charging the NJDEP and its state parks division with failing to enforce state code that memorializes driving on Island Beach State Park exclusively for the purpose of fishing. “If the NJDEP was trying to be equitable, they would have been transparent and involved the stakeholders in the process,” Browne noted.
As it stands today, many longtime permit holders at Island Beach State Park who have been boxed out of the 2026 permitting through the online lottery believe that enforcing the rules that only active fishermen can drive on the beach – starting with a requirement that permit applicants show their state saltwater angler registry card – would be a good start to fixing the process.
Other ideas for improvement offered by anglers and angling groups include increasing the number of beach driving permits that are issued, installation of a license plate reader to match the vehicle license plate with the registered vehicle/permit holder, and simply by returning to the original method of issuing permits in person at Island Beach State Park.
Bottom line, the current system of online permitting for Island Beach State Park is broken. The fix can either come through Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill and a new way of doing things at the NJDEP, or by way of some type of legislation passed out of the state Senate and Assembly.
The question is whether scapegoating out-of-state anglers through new legislation is actually the “fix” we need? With new legislation already halfway through the legislature with the Senate’s approval of S4775, we could soon find our answer should A6229 get approved before legislators go on winter break.
