Update 2/18/2025: The Bill has had its language ammended to include all ocean recreational activities, not just for surfers or fisherman.
Free Beach Access for New Jersey Surfers and Anglers
Bill A-4816 was introduced on September 19th and is currently sponsored by Assemblywoman Margie Donlon of District 11 (Monmouth).
The bill, if passed, “Prohibits the requirement for beach tags for surfers and fishermen for access to beach below mean high tide line”
In plain speech, this means that anglers and surfers would not need to pay for tags simply for the act of fishing off the beaches. It also clarifies the application of the public trust doctrine for surfers and anglers alike.
The bill itself can be found in its entirety at this link.
How to Voice Your Support
You can use this tool to look up your legislative district: Click Here
Call the offices of your district’s assembly members and ask them to:
1. Support passage of A-4816
2. To sign-on as a co-sponsor of the bill.
George Browne of the New Jersey Beach Buggy Association made an initial post this morning on the NJBBA Facebook page regarding A-8416:
A similar call to arms by Scott Thomas from Grumpy’s Tackle was posted on their Instagram page earlier today. He explains a bit more what the bill intends to do and how you can voice your support.
View this post on Instagram
Nick Cancelliere is a NYSDEC-licensed fishing guide and staff member at On The Water. He has fished the North and South shores of Long Island for more than 20 years from party boats, piers, kayaks, and the surf. His perspectives are informed by decades on the water targeting striped bass, black sea bass, fluke, porgy, tautog, and false albacore.
Fisherman and surfers should not have the right to the ocean restricted. We love, honor and find our peace in the sea and restricting our right to access the ocean makes it hard to pursue happiness. Our sports are open to all, rich or poor, old and young, from all walks of life and demographics. The ocean is a sanctuary, my sanctuary and I would like to be able to enjoy it with out fear of persecution.
Well said!
I ask people often. From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed and even after. What do you that isn’t regulated. Think hard. It will never stop. Rules on the books only get added to. Enough already. Believe it or not that many people fish. Even when stripers are running in NJ count the boats and the fisherman. It’s not that many. You can’t keep but one specific sized fish. Leave us alone please and go regulate something else that matters more you bored inept people
They have no more right to keep me out of the ocean I evolved out of than I have to keep them from the air they breath.