StripersandAnglers.com Advises of More Restricted Fishing Access in Ocean County, NJ

Roselle Park, NJ, October 26, 2013 --(PR.com)-- It was recently reported to http://www.stripersandanglers.com/ that there is now more enforcement of restricted back bay fishing areas in Ocean County. Fishermen previously had conditional access to these areas. There has always been a conflict among fishing bulkheads, marinas, and areas adjacent to them when they bordered private property areas.

The Public Trust Doctrine is supposed to protect public access. In recent cases where private property rights came into play, the rights of the private property owners usually prevailed.

A significant landmark victory in that area had been the winning back of fishermen access rights at Shore ham Beach, LI in 2012.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?990-Brookhaven-bans-fishing-at-Shoreham-Beach

In NJ, these issues of access Vs Public Trust had been handled by the Department of Environmental Protection. A decision was made in 2012 to hand over some of these decisions to local government, with a final Department of Environmental Protection oversight. What this implied to some was that the Department of Environmental Protection would ultimately have less say in these matters. This became a cause of concern for fishermen and outdoors enthusiasts.

During the week of Oct 20, this was made even more clear as fishermen were twice ticketed for fishing a local Ocean County marina area, as reported by local fisherman Joe Burrows

The first time 7 fishermen were ticketed, with the penalty being $175 for each violation.

The second time 6 fishermen were ticketed, with the penalty being $175 for each violation.

This is being put out there as a public service to those who think their rights are protected under the Public Trust Doctrine, and to remind all fishermen that fishing access is not guaranteed.