Free Registration for New Jersey Saltwater Recreational Registry Program

In 2006 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was charged with the creation of a universal phonebook – or registry – of all current saltwater anglers in the United States. The registry was developed to allow NOAA to quickly and easily contact current saltwater anglers in an effort to gain more accurate and timely information on recreational fisheries. States were allowed to establish their own registry program for saltwater anglers that fished in their state.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection established its own registry program, the New Jersey Saltwater Recreational Registry Program, to exempt saltwater recreational anglers fishing in New Jersey’s marine and tidal waters from the federal registry and the $15.00 federal registration fee imposed in 2011. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) implemented the New Jersey Saltwater Recreational Registry Program (NJSRRP) effective May 4, 2011 through Administrative Order No. 2011-05.

The registry is an important tool that will help fishermen and policy makers work together to better account for the contributions and impacts of saltwater anglers on ocean ecosystems and coastal economies. It is part of a national overhaul of the way NOAA collects and reports recreational fishing data. The goal of the initiative - known as the Marine Recreational Information Program, or MRIP - is to provide the most accurate information possible that can be used to determine the health of fish stocks. Reliable, universally trusted data will in turn aid anglers, fisheries managers and other stakeholders in their combined efforts to effectively and fairly set the rules that will ensure the long-term sustainability of recreational fishing. For more information, visit www.CountMyFish.noaa.gov.

This Registry is NOT a License. New Jersey does not have a saltwater license. All Marine Fisheries Rules and Regulations must be followed at all times.

Go to http://www.nj.gov/dep/saltwaterregistry/