A4946

An Act concerning the taking of menhaden and amending P.L.2013, c.74.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Legislature finds and declares that:

(1) the Department of Environmental Protection does not prohibit the use of fish pumps in the commercial bait catch of Atlantic menhaden beyond three nautical miles of the State coastline;

(2) currently, the DEP requires the removal of Atlantic menhaden captured by purse seine within State waters to be by brailing or dip net only;

(3) the use of fish pumps by persons in the commercial Atlantic menhaden fishing industry will not lead to overfishing in State waters;

(4) previous bans on fish pumps were successful in keeping large purse seine vessels from harvesting vast numbers of menhaden;

(5) however, the Legislature has already taken steps that prohibit menhaden reduction fisheries from operating in the State;

(6) in addition to the annual State menhaden catch quota established by the Atlantic States Marines Fisheries Commission, the DEP allocates quotas of menhaden capture for each commercial bait catch vessel during open season through the use of an Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) system, which eliminates the “race to fish” and reduces the need to maximize the number of fish caught on daily trips;

(7) as a result of the ITQ system, the season for commercial Atlantic menhaden fishing vessels has lengthened, which has scattered fishing efforts out along various points of the coast as these vessels will harvest where the menhaden are located during that particular time of the season;

(8) allowing the use of fish pumps in State waters for commercial menhaden bait catch would decrease the chance of crew members being injured and allow purse seine nets to be emptied more effectively, thereby minimizing the likelihood of fish kills from a broken purse seine net caused by the laborious and dangerous process of brailing and dip netting; and

(9) decreasing the amount of time it takes to bring captured menhaden on board will allow commercial bait capture vessels to vacate fishing grounds quicker, thereby limiting the potential for harmful interactions between commercial and recreational fishing vessels.

b. The Legislature therefore determines it is in the public interest to allow commercial bait catch vessels to utilize certain fish pumps when harvesting menhaden, in order to increase harvesting efficiency and protections for persons engaged in commercial and recreational fishing operations in State waters.

2. Section 11 of P.L.2013, c.74 (C.23:3-51.9) is amended to read as follows:

11. Removal, from a purse seine, of fish harvested from the waters of the State shall be by fish pump, brailing, or dip net [only]. [No] A fish pump [shall] may be on board any vessel operating under a license, for the purpose of taking menhaden for bait or human food purposes, [unless the pump is completely covered and securely fastened with a brightly colored tarp or other material, and the pump intake or hose is disconnected from the pump and is securely stowed away from the pump so that it is not readily available for use when the vessel is fishing in State waters] provided that the fish pump is a wet pump, of either capsule or centrifugal design, and the pump discharge hose is placed at or below the vessel’s water line in order to minimize the potential for excess aeration of surface waters in proximity to the fishing operation .

(cf: P.L.2013, c.74, s.11)

3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would revise the law concerning the use of fish pumps to remove menhaden from purse seines in certain circumstances.

This bill would allow a wet pump to be used to remove menhaden from a purse seine, provided that the fish pump is a wet pump, of either capsule or centrifugal design, and the pump discharge hose is placed at or below the vessel’s water line in order to minimize the potential for excess aeration of surface waters in proximity to the fishing operation.

Current law requires that the removal, from a purse seine, of fish harvested from the waters of the State be by brailing or dip net only and further provides that a fish pump may not be on board any vessel operating under a license for the purpose of taking menhaden for bait or human food purposes, unless the pump is completely covered and securely fastened with a brightly colored tarp or other material, and the pump intake or hose is disconnected from the pump and is securely stowed away from the pump so that it is not readily available for use when the vessel is fishing in State waters.