New Jersey commercial fishing is effectively regulated. Recreational fishing is not. ‘Too heavy handed’, say local anglers and party boat captains.
Rules that make no sense are destroying the recreational fishing industry in New Jersey.
Listen to Bill Shillingford, aka Bucktail Willie, on a recent SHEP ON FISHING show on WOND 1400am radio >
South Jersey Fishing Regulations
The State of New Jersey should be split in two when it comes to fishing regs. By the time fluke (summer flounder) grow to maturity, they’re already migrating northward, out of South Jersey waters. That’s one reason why South Jersey should have an earlier fluke season.
We should be taking those 16 & 17 inch fluke. Not throwing them back.
‘Shorts’….throwbacks…. discard or scavenger food. Any fluke under 18 inches.
These are heavy-handed regulations. We’re killing fluke. The mama fluke. We’re killing the breeders by throwing them back. All that are under 18 inches. A large portion of those throwbacks & so-called ‘shorts’ eventually die.
Commercial fisherman keep much smaller-sized fluke, whereas recreational anglers can’t.
Coastal wind turbines of South Jersey could play a negative role in the South Jersey fisheries.
Bill Shillingford
Some suggest New Jersey is slowly privatizing it’s coastal fishing stock. Northern coastal states have already experienced this first hand. See Cod-Father documentary: