Bill Text: NJ A3989 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows use of stand-up paddleboards for fishing on lakes in wildlife management areas.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-23 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee [A3989 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A3989-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Allows use of stand-up paddleboards for fishing on lakes in wildlife management areas.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning use of stand-up paddleboards on lakes in wildlife management areas and supplementing Title 23 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Division of Fish and Wildlife shall allow a person to use a stand-up paddleboard to fish on any lake located in any wildlife management area, provided the person abides by all other applicable federal and State rules and regulations.
b. For the purposes of this section, "stand-up paddleboard" means a board that is thicker and longer than a traditional surfboard, designed to be operated from a standing or kneeling position, and propelled by using a long paddle.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would allow a person to use a stand-up paddleboard to fish on any lake located in a wildlife management area, provided the person abides by all other applicable federal and State rules and regulations. This bill defines a stand-up paddleboard as a board that is thicker and longer than a traditional surfboard, designed to be operated from a standing or kneeling position, and propelled by using a long paddle.
This bill responds to a circumstance in which a stand-up paddleboarder was stopped on a lake in a wildlife management area by a conservation officer because regulations do not mention a paddleboard as a permissible fishing vessel on such lakes. Kayaks and canoes are permitted, however. But since the use of a stand-up paddleboard has not been clearly defined in regulation, it was not allowed. This bill would correct that oversight.
