December 20, 2010 - The New Jersey Senate today voted unanimously (36-0) in support of legislation requring the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to establish a free recreational saltwater registry to meet federal data collection requirements set by the Magnuson Stevens Act. The bill approved by the Senate (S1122) along with its companion bill (A823) approved by the Assembly on March 22, now needs only the signature of Governor Chris Christie in order to direct the DEP Commissioner to establish and implement a free state registry program for saltwater recreational anglers, modeled on the registry program established by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
In order to fulfill federal exemption requirements, New Jersey would have to implement a similar program for collecting name and contact details of individuals who engage in recreational fishing in state coastal waters out to the Continental Shelf. New Jersey is the last coastal state in the Continental U.S. to address the federal registration requirement, with Maine having recently implemented a similar registration program there. With the Governor's signature, S1122/A823 would allow New Jersey to apply for "exempted state designation from the federal registration requirements" in time to meet new federal fee requirements set to take effect on January 1, 2011.
"It's time for the saltwater anglers of New Jersey to get active one last time in order to see this legislation get past the Governor's desk," said Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), who added "our thanks to Sen. President Steve Sweeney for moving this bill to the Senate Floor, and our thanks to the entire Senate for their unanimous and bipartisan support of this legislation."
"Now it's time to call Governor Chris Christie who pledged no new taxes for New Jersey residents if elected, and urge his support of this legislation," Donofrio added.
The angler registration legislation is the result of the 2007 reauthorization of the federal fisheries law, the Magnuson Stevens Act, which Donofrio said included requirements designed to help improve federal data collection. "The intent of Congress was to create a virtual phonebook of saltwater anglers for federal surveyors to use in order to contact actual saltwater anglers," Donofrio said. "Coastal legislators in New Jersey were quick to react to the federal law with registry legislation which specifically meets the federal mandate, and we're very grateful especially to Sen. Jeff Van Drew of Cape May who has worked so hard to get this bill to where it is today," he added.
For over 30 years, federal surveyors have called names and numbers at random from coastal phonebooks, a methodology which the National Research Council deemed "fatally flawed" in a report to Congress in 2006. "Magnuson now requires that an angler registry of names and contact numbers be used exclusively by these federal surveyors for contacting anglers on their fishing habits, it's nothing more than an Excel sheet full of contact information," Donofrio said. "RFA has been working hard on this legislation for nearly 4 years, despite growing opposition of late by virtual newcomers to the issues impacting our marine fisheries management."
In recent weeks, New Jersey's coastal anglers have flooded local legislative offices with phone calls, faxes and emails supporting the free registration legislation, an effort which helped spur S1122 through the committee process. A handful of opponents argue that since the bill doesn't have a user fee attached, that there's no way the state can pay for the program, an argument Donofrio says doesn't hold water. "The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee heard both sides of the debate and voted unanimously to move this bill to a full vote on the Senate floor, and they did so because of compelling arguments made by constituents," Donofrio said. "That debate was already held, and the naysayers were either missing their facts or completely missing in action," he added.
One group actively lobbying against the saltwater registry has been the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs (Federation), a group comprised mainly of hunting and freshwater organizations and led primarily by active and retired conservation officers from the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. In an email sent by Federation leadership on Sunday night, the group boasted of securing a personal pledge between Federation president Ed Cuneo and DEP Commissioner Robert Martin that Governor Chris Christie would veto the saltwater registry bill.
"I know the Federation is pushing a saltwater license that would charge $21.50 for New Jersey residents to fish in coastal waters, and more than $30 a year for our out-of-state visitors, I'm just not sure why NJBBA and JCAA members would continue to support efforts to stop the registry legislation, especially by an organization originally founded and currently run by state conservation officers," said Jim Hutchinson, Jr., RFA's Managing Director. Hutchinson said New Jersey Beach Buggy Association (NJBBA) and the Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA) are the only state saltwater organizations currently represented as Federation board members. "The Federation should stick to their bear hunts and Sunday bowhunting bills and leave saltwater issues to full-time anglers and coastal business owners who truly understand our marine issues," Hutchinson said, adding "it's high time that saltwater anglers made a choice, join RFA and fight to protect your rights as a saltwater angler, or let bureaucratic sympathizers meet and compromise away your rights because of competing interests."
The RFA points out that NMFS' actual registration numbers for New Jersey shows there were 182,067 state residents registered with the federal government to fish coastal waters in 2010, with 63,026 Pennsylvania anglers, a total of 245,093 registered saltwater anglers in New Jersey's coastal region. By comparison, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) estimates there were approximately 413,000 New Jersey state residents who fished coastal waters in 2006, and another 83,000 coming from Pennsylvania, for a total estimated number of saltwater anglers in the neighborhood of 496,000 fishermen. The same USFWS survey ranks New Jersey fifth among coastal states in terms of overall saltwater retail sales, an estimated $643.6 million spent on saltwater tackle alone.
"Based on 7 percent sales tax alone, saltwater anglers contribute $45 million in annual tax revenue here in the state of New Jersey, while an additional 10% excise tax at the federal level results in another $64 million in federal taxes toward the federal Sport Fish Restoration Fund," said Hutchinson. "The US Department of Interior sent New Jersey a check for $3.8 million for 2010 from this excise tax and determined through USFWS numbers that 60% of that money belongs to saltwater fishermen in New Jersey, more than enough to pay for this simple angler registry," Hutchinson said. "We have a new federal mandate and plenty of federal money to pay for it, and that's why these bills moved through the Assembly and Senate Committees without a single 'no' vote," he added.
"This legislation was not supposed to be a method of funding for the state DEP, it was specifically crafted to meet federal reporting requirements as outlined by our federal fisheries law," Donofrio said. "We're seconds away from sudden death, so we need to be careful to not boot the ball here, it would only hurt our coastal anglers and the local businesses that depend on them."
Adam Nowalsky, chairman of RFA's New Jersey chapter (RFA-NJ) said his team has been actively working on ways to drive funding into the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife and marine resources in particular. "In March, RFA-NJ testified before Senate Budget Committee asking for an additional $2.3 million in state funding specifically for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife and their marine fisheries programs, and you can bet we'll be there again in the spring in an effort to get some of this critical funding in place," Nowalsky said. "When push comes to shove, I'm not sure where these other groups stand, but RFA-NJ will continue working hard to protect the rights of New Jersey coastal anglers while helping support our marine resources," he said.
"I hope the Governor does the right thing by our coastal constituents and signs this bill into law as quickly as possible, but until then the RFA is urging all saltwater anglers to register now with the federal government before the $15 registration fee kicks in," Donofrio said. Because the federal registry is good for one year from date of registration, coastal anglers not currently registered through an exempted program can still register for free by visiting www.countmyfish.noaa.gov.
"Get your free registration now from the federal government, but be sure to call the Governor's office at 609-292-6000 and ask respectfully on behalf of New Jersey's coastal fishing community to sign the free registry legislation into law before the December 31 deadline," Donofrio said.
