Salt water fishing license? Would you pay?

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

NJ has a great FW program but its administered by the NJDEP.. Not sure if a marine program would be handled the same way. Remember that much of the problem with marine fishing is access pure and simple.. Not stocking, not maintaining clean stream and rivers really,, but access.. Even reef building is access really.. Providing suitable habitat to hold fish for anglers to work.. NJ needs better access to the varied , extensive and very desirable salt and tidal waterways it has.. That means parking areas, shoreline access, ramps, piers etc etc... Not near as easy as dumping a truckload of fish into a lake or stream.. I may be cynical but I have my doubts that salt water anglers would see much more than maybe a few worn out boxcars dumped out onto a reef thats already established.. NY and NJ needs reasonably priced , well developed access to boat and shoreline marine fishing areas more than it needs a new reef in my opinion.. I just think that the anglers paying the fees would realize few tangible benefits. Thats just the way govt agencies work.. A lot of that money would go to bloated staff salaries... bob

I agree that access, meaning more free ramps and parking are important issues but lets be practical about this, especially on the SW side... It's a pipe dream to think that any or even some of the parking and ramps that are owned privately or by municipalities would be bought up and suddenly become free.. Even in our current state marine parks, you pay to launch I have no reason to believe that will change, at least not enough to make a real difference but it would be great if we could.

As far as fishing access to beaches, I think at least in some cases you don't have to pay to get on the beach if you are fishing but where do you park? Show your fishing license and get a free parking spot at the beach... That certainly would sell a lot of licences and maybe there's something there

Reefs are pretty cheap in comparison to buying land for ramps and parking and it's something we could realistically get done. Reef habitat feeds and benefits the entire marine ecosystem.

Yes we need to protect our environment because with out it nothing else matters... I think we've made great strides here but it hardly has anything to do with fishermen and even less about paying for a license. It's a priority for everyone and the state, has it's own funding we already benefit from.

I'm certainly with you on how government tends to work here and most other places and the reason for my doubts. Some department gets some money from the general fund or lets say from a license fee, that's never going to end and will go on in perpetuity and takes on a life of it's own without any public input on how the money is spent and the will of the people. Think Parkway and Turnpike tolls here. Put in place years ago to pay for a bridge that has been paid for several times over..

I'm cynical as well and so are many others here for good reason.

Thanks for taking the time with your thoughtful reply and let's always remember, we might disagree on some things but in general, we're all on the same team

[AndyS]

USFW National Survey of Hunting, Fishing & Wildlife Associated Recreation- NJ Results:
Kristen Meistrell gave a presentation on the Summary of 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and
Wildlife-Associated Recreation in New Jersey. Support comes from Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
Funds. It is jointly managed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services and Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies. The National Survey has been conducted since 1955. The survey was administered in two
phases by NORC at the University of Chicago, phase 1: initial screener- 2,291 people from NJ and phase
2: interviews with 4,258 people from NJ.
NJ gets $9.4 Billion in Expenditures
▪ $3.2 Billion in Fishing Related Expenditures
▪ $947 Million in Hunting Related Expenditures
▪ $5.3 Billion in Wildlife-Watching Related Expenditures

[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

I can assure you it's not because they have a salt water fishing license, it's because they care about fish and game a made it a funding priority in their budget. The FL SW license revenue was $7.2M in 2023

Florida spends $102M on fish and wildlife and has a total state budget of $116B.

NJ spends $15M on Fish and Wildlife and we have a $56B total state budget

The total state FL budget is a factor of almost 2X the size of ours but they outspend us in fish and game by a factor of 7X.

This is why I think the SW license is not the issue, the issue is SW fishing is not budget priority in our states government and politics.

Speaking of not being a priority, we have 2 vacant NJ marine (saltwater) council positions that it's the governors job to fill and his administration has neglected to do so in spite of being in office almost 7 years now.

I'll be the first to say we have more then our fair share of important issues here in our state but don't you think the $2B of revenue that salt water generates for our state each year deserves a bit more attention and priority?

Maybe we need to wait until the 2025 election and hope there are some changes in priorities

Definitely need to wait for these political blowhards to get voted out to accomplish anything, you got that right! Tired of the same old political clowns on both sides. We will have at least one better option in 2025 who is a normal nj american that cares about outdoorsmen and small businesses like our tackle shops and charters.

[Capt. Debbie]

I may have missed something... the state actually asked?

Originally Posted by Chrisper4694

In last weeks episode, Peter Clarke, from njfw returned and we started talking about ways to fund the artificial reef program and the idea of a pay for saltwater license came up...

My gut reaction was to say hell no, but if there was some way to assure 100% of the license sales went back into our marune fisheries, i could consider playing ball; do you feel the same way?

Im the last person to trust "the government", but i could trust good people like Peter working there, so i feel like there is some path to this working.

Also, i look at how great places like florida are where you need to purchase a license to fish the saltwater and the use the money to build and maintain the marine environment, fishing access points, etc.

We think nothing of buying freshwater licenses every year because the stocking program is top notch so i think i can be sold on a saltwater license if it meant a better saltwater fiahing experience...

Link to the youtube episode below (also available on spotify):

https://youtu.be/O6wQQRcShLQ?si=Hikphb4v44aWUPOC

[NoLimit]

Artificial reef?? There are tons of corporations that have to pay to dispose of inert junk that would make for great reefs.

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by NoLimit

Artificial reef?? There are tons of corporations that have to pay to dispose of inert junk that would make for great reefs.

Enough ocean dumping, please !!!

[Detour66]

The only way I would consider a SW license is if they extended the fishing seasons, more favorable and fair size limits and increase in the amount of fish we can keep. I'm not talking huge changes but something that makes it worthwhile to spend the money we already spend for a day fishing on the water.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by AndyS

USFW National Survey of Hunting, Fishing & Wildlife Associated Recreation- NJ Results:
Kristen Meistrell gave a presentation on the Summary of 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and
Wildlife-Associated Recreation in New Jersey. Support comes from Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
Funds. It is jointly managed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services and Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies. The National Survey has been conducted since 1955. The survey was administered in two
phases by NORC at the University of Chicago, phase 1: initial screener- 2,291 people from NJ and phase
2: interviews with 4,258 people from NJ.
NJ gets $9.4 Billion in Expenditures
▪ $3.2 Billion in Fishing Related Expenditures
▪ $947 Million in Hunting Related Expenditures
▪ $5.3 Billion in Wildlife-Watching Related Expenditures

Something not adding up here or I’m not understanding something . Your numbers are saying 9.4 billion yet the state budget like I copied and pasted here is saying their budget is 15 million?

Here's some information about New Jersey's budget for fish and wildlife:
Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife
The operating budget for the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife has remained at $15,078,506 for the past three years.
Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries
The Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries' budget is funded by the sale of fishing licenses and trout stamps, as well as federal excise taxes on the manufacturing of fishing and hunting equipment. The Bureau receives $1 million from the sale of fishing licenses and trout stamps to support freshwater research and management, and $2.2 million to support hatchery operations.

[AndyS]

From the F&G Council meeting October 8, 2024:

USFW National Survey of Hunting, Fishing & Wildlife Associated Recreation- NJ Results:
Kristen Meistrell gave a presentation on the Summary of 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and
Wildlife-Associated Recreation in New Jersey. Support comes from Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
Funds. It is jointly managed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services and Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies. The National Survey has been conducted since 1955. The survey was administered in two
phases by NORC at the University of Chicago, phase 1: initial screener- 2,291 people from NJ and phase
2: interviews with 4,258 people from NJ.
NJ gets $9.4 Billion in Expenditures
▪ $3.2 Billion in Fishing Related Expenditures
▪ $947 Million in Hunting Related Expenditures
▪ $5.3 Billion in Wildlife-Watching Related Expenditures
Kristen put together a report that summarizes the graphs and will share that with the council.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by AndyS

Enough ocean dumping, please !!!

yeah, not the same as the streams and rivers you so often and so kindly and thoughtfully help to clean up. We both know that. As long as there are no chemicals, petroleum, poisons,and toxins going in, they can dump all the metal construction material, old ships, old train cars etc they can find into the ocean as far as I am concerned.. Nothing more barren in the ocean than wide open stretches of shifting sand,,, Sink an old demolished warehouse on this same barren sand and in 2 years its pulsing with life...

Tossing chemicals and poisonous garbage is "ocean dumping"..

Throwing "inert junk" into the ocean creates vast zones of sea life.. as long as it IS inert!.. Toxic crap??.. yeah in that case we are in total agreement... bob