ANGLER REGISTRY SPONSOR CALLS FOR FINE REDUCTION
RFA-NJ Echoes Words of Sen. Van Drew
Calling Excessive Fines "Absurd"
Senator Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland) has called on Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner (DEP) Bob Martin to halt plans to charge residents an initial civil penalty of up to $3,000 for failing to register with the new free state fishing registry, the product of a bill he sponsored. As reported in both the Asbury Park Press and Brick Patch, as well as Rack and Fin Radio over the weekend, Van Drew intends to introduce legislation which would scale back the penalties for noncompliance, imposing a warning for a first offense and a fine of $20 to $30 for each subsequent offense.
"The very purpose of creating the free registry was to cut people a break," Van Drew told the media this weekend, adding "since it is a new system, it is expected that residents who fish infrequently and individuals traveling from out of state may not be aware of the new requirement to register. A $300 fine for an initial offense of noncompliance is extreme, and the potential maximum fine of $3,000 is just absurd."
Names, addresses and telephone numbers collected by the new registry are expected to be used by surveyors working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on national recreational harvest surveys. Currently, NOAA Fisheries has third-party survey contractors calling numbers at random from coastal phonebooks in an effort to gauge recreational harvest and participation, but a new federal law enacted in 2007 mandated that NOAA Fisheries begin using a national directory of saltwater anglers as of 2009 in order to improve the data collection.
According to the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), NOAA Fisheries was to have implemented a new survey program called the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) as of January 1, 2009. While MRIP is now two years late in its mandated rollout, the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is hoping that better recreational fishing data will be forthcoming in the next few years.
"This registry was spurred by an act of Congress with the intention of making it easier for third-party contractors working for the government to be able to contact actual saltwater anglers by phone, yet the state of New Jersey has turned this into a virtual weapon against its own people in order to an effort to punish taxpayers and coastal businesses," said RFA Executive Director Jim Donofrio. "The only reason why we see these fines so high is as a response by the DEP against the members of our community who fought against a user fee."
For the past 3 three years, the RFA and its New Jersey members have fought exhaustively to see a free angler registry bill passed out of the state Senate and Assembly, despite heavy opposition by representatives of the DEP and a handful of 'conservation' groups including the Sierra Club. First introduced in 2008 by Sen. Van Drew along with Sen. Chris Bateman, a free registry companion bill was also sponsored in the Assembly by representatives Nelson Albano, Matt Milam, Doug Fisher and Scott Rumana.
Despite pressure by lobbyists loyal to the DEP who had attempted to incorporate an angler fee for this new federal registry mandate, the legislation ultimately passed through both houses with support from fellow Assembly representatives John Amodeo, Celeste Riley, Paul Moriarty, and Gil "Whip" Wilson, "with a big boost of support from Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver" according to Donofrio. He added that additional Senate support came from free registry co-sponsors Jennifer Beck, Sean Kean, James Beach, Fred Madden and Donald Norcross.
Donofrio said there's a huge disconnect between the federal and state bureaucracies, even amongst public sector co-workers. "The Director of the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife was at a state fisheries council meeting last Thursday night stating that it is the feds who are pushing for such harsh fines, yet his own staff has made other claims," Donofrio said, citing reports from a recent outdoor writers luncheon held in Assunpink. According to blogger Karen Wall, the Director's claims don't mesh with the report given at the DEP publicity event in April, when conservation officer Mark Chicketano purportedly noted that NOAA officials told him that any angler not registered should receive nothing more than a verbal warning, "because the whole point was to get people registered."
RFA has long argued that the point of the registry was to create a phonebook of saltwater anglers in America, and not for state fundraising efforts nor for punishing anglers. "Once again we're thankful for coastal legislators like Sen. Jeff Van Drew for spearheading efforts to protect the constituents of New Jersey from this continuing onslaught of bureaucratic neglect."
Van Drew said he will immediately introduce legislation to mandate a warning on first offense and a $20 penalty if an angler is stopped a second time by conservation officers and still has not registered. The $300 fine is set by the DEP's code for marine fisheries violations, but it is "extreme" for a paperwork omission and the potential maximum for repeat offenders is "absurd," Van Drew said. The Senator added that the onset of registry requirements at the beginning of the fishing season is likely to snare people who are just unaware of the new system.
Saltwater anglers fishing in New Jersey coastal waters who've not already registered to fish in marine waters are encouraged to visit www.saltwaterregistry.nj.gov today..
