Beach Access and NJ Perfect Together?

Recent changes in the guidelines to beach and water access in NJ are being battled over in the NJ courts. Four groups of access advocates are fighting this fight for all of us who use the beaches in NJ. CRABS (citizens rights to access beaches) The American Littoral Society, The Surf rider foundation, and The NYNJ Bay keepers are spearheading this effort. I recently discovered this issue and thought as a surf fisherman what can I do to keep my access open so that I can fish?

Changes to the access in NJ are coming on fast these will allow each individual town/municipality to set their own rules for access. The following are examples of the DEP changes, which could be made by individual towns:

• Loss of 24/7 access to coastal waters
•        Loss of 24/7 access wow this is a big deal for us as surf fisherman. Imagine not being able to hit your favorite beach with a black SS needle after dark? Never again being able to see the sun rise on bird play while throwing that big old Big Don Pencil? I can’t imagine not being to eel off of the Manasquan Jetty through the night?
• Loss of the requirement for 1/4 mile access points
• Loosing access points to stretches of beach which we now use might just cause issues of trespass onto private property. I can’t imagine areas that are fishy being ignored because of limited access. Guy’s will just cut through private property.
• Loss of requirement that towns consider parking and other amenities as part of access
•      As it is now in most of the areas I fish there is restrictive parking between the hours of 9-5 there is only 2 hour parking in season, fortunately there isn’t a lot of fishing going on in the seasonal months for me, but it’s still a pain in June when the big girls are on Bunker pods and your watching the clock to save that $75 ticket. With this it could actually get worse. Imagine no parking on the block at the beach or like in Point Pleasant metered parking 24/7 yearlong.
• No ties to replenishment funds and public access improvements
• Wow here’s the kicker towns which will be within their rights to tighten access to their beaches will still be eligible to get public funding to replenish their beaches. WOW they will use NJ tax dollars for their own benefit, and where will the residents whose money is being used be????Not on the beach.
• Placing access requirement decisions directly in the hands of towns that have historically limited or blocked public access.
• This last statement is the one, which seals it for me. How many times do we need to be reminded that the fate of our passion is in the hands of folks who couldn’t give a hoot?

I’m sharing this information with you in hopes we as a group can get involved and make our voice heard in regards to this. I know currently the four groups who are fighting this battle are seeking to gain support from groups interested in signing petitions as a group to support this fight.

For more information  on what is currently going on with this check the following links: http://atlanticville.gmnews.com/news/2011-03-17/Front_Page/Changes_to_beach_access_rule_draw_protest.html

http://crabnj.org/5.html

On face book you can support this cause by following this link:

http://www.causes.com/causes/561902-don-t-change-new-jersey-beach-access-rules

You can offer support to the cause by following this link:

http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3065

The DEP’s rule proposal will hit the NJ Register on April 4th.  It is pretty much the same as the draft we saw in August.  This will begin a 60 day Public comment period and there will likely be 2 public hearings. This will be the time to stand up and speak out on this issue.

This issue might seem to be something that won’t affect you where you fish, I said that to myself when I lost access to the Delaware river. I thought they will never stop me from getting to the water to fish. Boy was I wrong. I started surf fishing because I figured no one could block access to the beach. Well I was wrong before and with this current action taking place I don’t want to be wrong again.

Dates for the public hearings will be available soon and I will let everyone know.

Keep the beaches, sods, and rocks  open People have been surf fishing recreationally for over 150 years in NJ lets not let that end on our watch.

[issuu layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml showflipbtn=true documentid=110308003917-21741ced73f243ec859cfedc908ef1cf docname=issue6 username=SURFCASTERS_JOURNAL loadinginfotext=issue%206 width=420 height=162 unit=px]