The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and its Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) are reminding striped bass anglers that effective midnight on January 1, the 2015 Striped Bass Bonus Program will close for individuals and party/charter boats. All bonus permits issued in 2015 will not be valid in 2016.
Also, those anglers and party/charter boat captains who held striped bass bonus permits in 2015 have until January 31, 2016 to submit their season logbooks. That information is used by the NJDEP and DFW scientists in collecting valuable data on striped bass harvest and release in the state of New Jersey. The reporting of all harvested bonus fish is mandatory, and submission of logbooks is critical to ensuring eligibility for the program in 2016.
Applications for the 2016 Striped Bass Bonus Program are not currently being accepted, as it will be up to the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council to make a determination as to whether or not the program will continue next season. Following the coastwide reduction in recreational striped bass limits in 2015, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council last year voted to change the Striped Bass Bonus Program regulations as of September 1, 2015, with anglers limited to only one permit for the year on ‘slot size’ fish from 24 inches to less than 28 inches.
The Party/Charter Boat (PCBT) facet of the program also reopened on September 1, with the NJDEP explaining how data collected from this program has proved invaluable for managing striped bass.
The Striped Bass Bonus Program is fairly unique to New Jersey, as it is one of the few states along the Atlantic Coast that does not allow commercial harvest or sale of striped bass. The state is still allocated a commercial harvest quota of striped bass under the Striped Bass Interstate Fisheries Management Plan as administered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). Since New Jersey does not allow netting or sale of striped bass, this quota was transferred to the recreational fishing sector resulting in the origin of the Striped Bass Bonus Program.
The 2015 allocation from ASMFC is 215,912 pounds which was distributed between individual anglers and party/charter boats. The program was initiated in 1990, and although it has been modified throughout the years, the main goal of the Striped Bass Bonus Program according to the NJDEP/DFW is “to allow anglers to participate in the management process while enjoying their favorite recreational pastime.”
“It is a popular program and provides valuable data for assessing stock status and fishing trends, making it an integral part of New Jersey’s striped bass management,” the NJDEP/DFW said.
New Jersey anglers are also reminded that it is illegal to “take, attempt to take, or have in possession any striped bass” in any marine waters except the Atlantic Ocean from zero to three miles offshore from January 1 through February 28. NJDEP/DFW says “all inlets and bays are delineated from ocean waters by a Colregs Demarcation line.”
Click here for the latest saltwater fisheries regulations in the state of New Jersey.
