NJ DEPARTMENT of ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
NATURAL AND HISTORIC RESOURCES
DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE

Notice of Rule Proposal
Shellfisheries: Oyster License Consolidation, N.J.A.C. 7:25A-1.3, 1.4, and 1.5, proposed amendments

PUBLIC NOTICE
Take notice that the NJ Department of Environmental Protection is proposing amendments to the rules concerning the management of oyster harvesting in the Delaware Bay at N.J.A.C. 7:25A-1.3, 1.4, and 1.5.  The oysters rules, N.J.A.C. 7:25A, govern the management and harvest of oysters from the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and their tributaries.  The proposed amendments would allow for the consolidation of up to six oyster dredge vessel licenses and the annual oyster harvest quotas assigned to those licenses to one designated harvest vessel, so long as each oyster dredge vessel and the designated harvest vessel are wholly owned by the same person.  As a result, the vessel to which the license(s) and quota(s) are assigned would be allowed to harvest the annual harvest quota of that vessel as well as the annual harvest quotas of the other vessels included in the consolidation, for a total of up to six harvest quotas on the designated harvest vessel.  Because licensed oyster dredge vessels must be maintained in “operable condition” in accordance with the definition of “validly licensed” at N.J.A.C. 7:25A-1.3, the proposed amendments will relieve oyster harvesters of the financial burden experienced by many members of the Delaware Bay oyster industry of having to maintain every dredge vessel they own in order to harvest the quota assigned to the license assigned to that vessel.  By consolidating the licenses to one designated harvest vessel, only the designated harvest vessel must be maintained in “operable condition.”  

The proposal is scheduled to be published in the New Jersey Register dated April 4, 2016. A copy of the proposal is available at: http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/proposals/20160404b.pdf, and the LexisNexis free public access to the New Jersey Register, www.lexisnexis.com/njoal.

Written comments may be submitted electronically by June 3, 2016 at www.nj.gov/dep/rules/comments or in hard copy to:

Gary Brower
Attn:  DEP Docket Number: 01-16-03
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Legal Affairs
Mail Code 401-04L, PO Box 402
401 East State Street, Floor 7
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402