Fish and Game Council
Charles Suk, Acting Chair
Vern Becker
John W. Bradway, Sr.
W. Scott Ellis
Walter R. Frantin, Jr.
Jane Morton Galetto
George P. Howard
Elwood Knight
Dr. John E. Kuser
William Martin
Madelyn Picone

Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee
Jane Morton Galetto, Chair
Dr. James Applegate
Dr. Joanna Burger
Mike Catania
Sally Dudley
Rich Kane
Janet Larsen
Dr. Dale Schweitzer
James Shissias
Dr. Robert Shomer

Marine Fisheries Council
Gilbert H. Ewing, Jr., Chair
Dr. Robert Abel
William Barnish
Charles Bergmann
David Botwinick
John Cole
Edward Goldman
Richard Malinowski
Frances E. Puskas
Herbert B. Siperstein
Hansel Torriero

Shellfish Council Members
Atlantic Coast Section
William Barnish, Chair
Everett Giberson
Walter Hughes
Daniel L. Loper
Stephen Potter

Delaware Bay Section
Richard Malinowski, Chair
Scott Bailey
William Bradway
Stephen J. Fleetwood
Nancy Sittineri

From Charles Suk, Acting Chair
Fish and Game Council

The Fish and Game Council is pleased to present the Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1998 from the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife. The Division is unique in state government in that it is funded primarily by the constituents it most directly serves, those who hunt and fish, rather than by general tax revenues. The Fish and Game Council and the duties it performs, such as developing hunting and fishing regulations, fosters professional, scientific management of the resource. Members of the council, appointed by the Governor, are unpaid volunteers who act in the best interests of the resource and the public.

As in past years, the report highlights some of the most progressive management programs in the nation and many of the impressive accomplishments of the various bureaus within the agency. It also documents some of the “routine” activities of the agency which, while not high profile, are nonetheless vital to maintaining our valuable fish and wildlife resources which have such important recreational, economic, aesthetic and ecological values to everyone. This work is done almost exclusively with funding from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and related stamps and permits, as well as federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment.

The Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife now manages more than 255,000 acres of open space within the Wildlife Management Area system. Primarily managed for hunting and fishing, these lands are open for other outdoor recreational activities as well. Birders and other nature enthusiasts are particularly served, but hikers, bikers, photographers, cross-country skiers and others directly benefit from these lands. Perhaps most importantly, these areas provide oases of open space in this, the most densely populated state in the nation, and are an important component of open space preservation planning.

Our state offers some of the finest wildlife-related recreational opportunities in the country. Sportsmen and women have the greatest diversity of hunting and fishing opportunities ever. To maintain this tradition, the Division trained nearly 14,000 future hunters, provided fishing education programs for nearly 2,400 novice anglers, introduced 800 teachers to Project and Aquatic WILD and held 8 outdoor skills workshops for women.

Healthy wildlife populations, habitat and sound wildlife management are the result of the hard work and dedication of one of the smallest agencies in state government. The Division manages a deer herd of some 150,000 and is a model for other states. The wild turkey, restored by the division in the 1970s, now numbers at least 18,000. The Division maintains 18 boat ramps, 14 artificial reef sites, and 2 fish hatcheries which produce more than 700,000 trout and a million bass, pike, catfish, sunfish and other species for more than 300 bodies of water.

In closing, I’d like to ask you to remember that the Division’s efforts are primarily supported both financially and otherwise by the sportsmen and women of New Jersey. Yet it is the public as a whole which profits from healthy fish and wildlife populations and the economic and environmental benefits proper management yields. The New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife has developed many new and innovative programs over the past 20 years and the Fish and Game Council intends to do whatever is possible to support the agency. We urge the legislature, and the general public, to also continue supporting the Division’s work so that our wildlife populations remain properly managed for the state’s citizens to enjoy and benefit from in the future as they do today.