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NJ ocean laws

S

saltwater4life

Well i think we're going to the beach this weekend and the place we're going has a pretty cool mountain of live rock from the shore out about 20ft and a few years ago our first summer here i remember picking up crabs and inverts. I was just wondering what are the laws is it legal to keep anything? I remember hearing live rock is illegal am i right?

Thanks
Btw i can't remember if i asked this awhile back but i searched and came up with nothing...
 
D

DaveK

saltwater4life said:
Well i think we're going to the beach this weekend and the place we're going has a pretty cool mountain of live rock from the shore out about 20ft and a few years ago our first summer here i remember picking up crabs and inverts. I was just wondering what are the laws is it legal to keep anything? I remember hearing live rock is illegal am i right?

Thanks
Btw i can't remember if i asked this awhile back but i searched and came up with nothing...
Click to expand...

In this day and age I have no idea. Obviously, for stuff like blue crabs, make sure you have any necessary crabbing permits. Ditto for any other shellfish like clams, oysters, mussels, etc.

I can't imagine NJ for being a source of live rock since there are no coral reefs. Although if you had a dock you could likely put some dead coral rock in the water in April, and take it out in September, and see what attatched to it.

Years ago, I would collect some things in the back bay areas from about Stone Harbor to Cape May. Back then no one much cared, as long as you were not messing with the regulated shellfish.

I never found much in the way of fish, except for Sheepshead minnows and silversids. There were quite a few inverts, like hremit crabs, snails, grass shrimp. Often you could find sponges, and various types of seaweed. If you could find that stuff growing on a shell, it was easy to collect the shell.

Setting up a tank of local fish was interesting, and you had a some things few others had.

I wouldn't mind setting up a similar tank today. I'm also interested in what and where you can collect today.
 
panmanmatt

panmanmatt

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
As long as it is a non-game species and there are no limits in place you can collect and keep it.

Anything collected from our waters this time of year is a temperate animal and will not live long term at reef temps. Most won't make it more than a few months. If you can keep your temperatures in the low to mid 70's you'll be alright.
 
M

mladencovic

He was also asking about sand and rock. I don't know about the rock, but I am pretty much sure that I have seen somewhere the discussion about sand and how it is ilegal to take sand from beaches. Also, you should consider all the polutants you might get if you collect rocks and sand here. From Copertone to all the crap that is dumped in NJ waters.
 
D

DaveK

Carlo said:
My concern would be, how the animals survive in our much warmer tropical tank environments?

Carlo
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Yes, I should have pointed out that I set up a different tank for the NJ locals, and kept the temp far lower than a tropical reef system.

However, if you restrict your collection to the tidal pools, most of the things you find there can live at warmer temps. Tidal pools can get extremely warm in the summer with the sun beating down on them, sometimes as high as 85.

By the way, if you visit the Wetlands Institute, you can see some tanks set up with some local fish and inverts. The methods they use are similar to FW tanks or how SW was done about 30 years ago, but you will see a few interesting things. They are located in Stone Harbor on the causeway between the town on the beach and Cape May Courthouse.
 
A

Arrg

I've heard of people collecting tropical fish that come up in the gulf stream but I don't when that passes through.
 
I

IrradiatedReef

Sand and rock is illegal. Fishing licence is required for everything else and need a stamp for collecting spacific items. In most states, hermits do not need a stamp as they are not a regulated crab for eating. There is however a limit per day on everything. Florida had a 20 per day limit on blue leg hermits for example. I am short on time right now so all I can really say is look on the Fish and Game website for Jersey and you should be able to find an info packet that tells you the limits on stuff like that. < It does on the florida site somewhere>
 
panmanmatt

panmanmatt

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
IrradiatedReef said:
Sand and rock is illegal. Fishing licence is required for everything else and need a stamp for collecting spacific items. In most states, hermits do not need a stamp as they are not a regulated crab for eating. There is however a limit per day on everything. Florida had a 20 per day limit on blue leg hermits for example. I am short on time right now so all I can really say is look on the Fish and Game website for Jersey and you should be able to find an info packet that tells you the limits on stuff like that. < It does on the florida site somewhere>
Click to expand...

In the state of New Jersey, there is no licensce or stamps need for any kind of saltwater fishing or collecting. Florida yes, but not in NJ.
 
I

IrradiatedReef

I had a chance to look on NJ Fish and Game and they did not have anything about collecting animals from the ocean like hermits. There is a number to call and I would recommend calling them and ask about spacific things you intend on collecting to find out the limits and possible size requirements. In Florida, just about everyone I know dives for coral and fish and you can get a print out of the limits. Then again, Florida has tropical reefs.

I did however read on Fish and Game that there are quite a few artifical reefs off the coast of NJ that has some nice lobstering and spearfishing. Might be worth looking into. Never know what may be found down there.
 
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