Sponsored by:
Assemblyman TIM EUSTACE
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman L. GRACE SPENCER
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblyman RAJ MUKHERJI
District 33 (Hudson)
Assemblyman THOMAS P. GIBLIN
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Holley, Assemblywomen Jasey, Chaparro, Assemblyman Johnson, Assemblywomen Quijano, Jimenez and Assemblyman Chiaravalloti
SYNOPSIS
Removes black bear from list of game species.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning black bear, amending R.S.23:4-1, and supplementing Title 23 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.23:4-1 is amended to read as follows:
23:4-1. No person shall capture, kill, injure, destroy or have in possession or hunt, hunt for, or attempt to capture, kill, injure or destroy any reedbird, wild swans, wood duck, wild geese, brant, wild ducks, rails or marsh hens, gallinules, coot (commonly known as crow duck), upland plover, black-bellied plover, golden plover, greater or lesser yellowlegs, willets, sandpipers, dowitchers or robin snipe, brown backs, curlews, turnstones or calico backs, godwits or marlin, tattlers, Wilson snipe or jacksnipe, woodcock or any other birds commonly known as shore birds, surf snipe or bay snipe, unless an open season is prescribed therefor by the regulations of the United States Department of the Interior, made under the provisions of an Act of Congress relating to migratory birds, and then only during the respective open seasons fixed for such birds by such regulations.
No person shall capture, kill, injure, destroy or have in possession any quail, rabbit, hare, gray, black or fox squirrel, raccoon, woodchuck, English or ring-necked pheasant, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, partridge, or any other game bird or game animal, other than those mentioned in the first paragraph of this section, unless an open season is prescribed therefor by the State Fish and Game Code, and then only during the respective open seasons fixed by such code; or, in the absence of such provision in said code, unless an open season is prescribed therefor by law, and then only during the respective open seasons fixed by this section.
Unless otherwise prescribed by the State Fish and Game Code, the open season for quail, rabbit, hare, gray, black or fox squirrel, male English or ring-necked pheasant, ruffed grouse, or partridge, except as hereinafter in this article is restricted, shall be from November 10 to December 10; provided, however, no person shall capture, kill, injure, destroy or have in his possession any of the birds or animals mentioned in this paragraph on the first day of any open season for such birds and animals before 9 a.m.
Unless otherwise prescribed by the State Fish and Game Code, the open season for woodchuck shall be from May 1 to September 30; between sunrise and sunset only.
Unless otherwise prescribed by the State Fish and Game Code, the open season for raccoon shall be from November 1 to January 15, between sunset and sunrise only, except during the open season for deer.
Unless otherwise provided by the State Fish and Game Code, the birds and animals for which an open season is prescribed by this section may be possessed during the respective open seasons therefor and for the additional period of 10 days immediately succeeding the open seasons.
There shall be no open season for black bear.
Except as otherwise specifically provided by this act or any other law, for capturing, killing, injuring, destroying, or having in possession or hunting, hunting for, or attempting to capture, kill, injure or destroy any of the game birds or game animals mentioned in this section, or any other game bird or game animal, other than during the respective open seasons, if any, and at the times, if any, fixed therefor by the respective provisions of the State Fish and Game Code, or, in the absence of any such provisions in [said] the code, fixed therefor by this section, or for violating any other provision of this section, a person shall be liable to a penalty of not less than [$20.00] $20 and not more than [$100.00] $100 for each bird or animal or part thereof unlawfully captured, killed, injured, destroyed, had in possession, or hunted, hunted for, attempted to be captured, killed, injured or destroyed; provided, however, that a person shall be liable to a penalty of not less than [$100.00] $100 and not more than [$300.00] $300 for each wild turkey, [black bear,] coyote, bobcat, otter, or part thereof, unlawfully captured, killed, injured, destroyed, possessed, or hunted, hunted for, attempted to be captured, killed, injured or destroyed.
(cf: P.L.1979, c.385, s.3)
2. (New section) The black bear is designated as a nongame species and shall be protected by the Department of Environmental Protection, any other State agency, and any local governmental entity in the same manner and to the same extent as any other nongame species of mammal indigenous to the State that is protected by "The Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act," P.L.1973, c.309 (C.23:2A-1 et seq.), any other applicable State law, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would designate the black bear as a nongame species and require that it be protected in the same manner and to the same extent as any other nongame species of mammal indigenous to the State that is protected by "The Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act.” The bill would thus remove the black bear from game species status, and by doing so ensure that it could no longer be legally hunted in New Jersey.