Important: This layer is meant to be viewed in conjunction with Artificial Reef Sites of New Jersey. The original “New Jersey’s Recreational and Commercial Ocean Fishing Grounds” charts were first created in 1982 with a second printing in 1984. In 2003, the Division of Fish and Wildlife's Bureau of Marine Fisheries, with funding from the Coastal Management Program, updated the map in digital format for inclusion in the Department's Geographic Information System. The updating of the map was accomplished through direct interviews with recreational fishing boat captains. Prime recreational fishing grounds identified in the various publications referenced in the rule and commercially prepared sport fishing charts (Homeport Charts and Charter Boat Charts) were transferred onto two sets of NOAA nautical charts, which served as the working or base map. For fishing grounds within 20 nautical miles of the coast, NOAA nautical charts Series 12326, 12323, 12318 and 12214 at a scale of 1:80,000 were used. For fishing beyond 20 nautical miles NOAA nautical charts Series 12200 and 12300 at a scale of 1:400,000 were used. During the summer of 2003, 28 party boat captains, 47 charter boat captains and 22 private boat captains from each fishing port (inlet) along the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey were interviewed by Department staff. These recreational fishing party boat, charter boat and private boat captains were selected because they fish the ocean waters on a daily basis using a wide variety of methods to catch a variety of fish species. The interview process entailed examining the accuracy of the already delineated prime fishing areas on the base map. Fishermen modified the base map by drawing their changes on the map. In general, modifications to the boundaries of the prime fishing areas resulted in an increase to the size of the prime fishing area. In a similar fashion, the captains drew new prime fishing areas on the base maps. The revised base maps were then digitized into the New Jersey Specific Sport Ocean Fishing Grounds Coverage. In 2018, the NJ Bureau of Marine Fisheries again updated the New Jersey Prime Fishing Grounds to include all current 17 artificial reef sites, and updated Homeport Charts. Under the DEP’s plan to balance access, regulations have set aside a portion of the Sandy Hook Reef and two sections of the Axel Carlson Reef as Full Access Zones. These are areas where persons may use, leave, deploy, or tend lobster conch, fish pot gear. Recreational hook and line anglers are not prohibited from utilizing the Full Access Zones for fishing. The use of fixed gear is prohibited on all other reef sites as they are all deemed Special Management Zones by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service as well as Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council. The use of fixed gear on any reef or portion of a reef not explicitly defined is prohibited and punishable by law (N.J.A.C. 7:25-18.5A). The 1nm buffer polygons were incorporated to represent the entire surrounding area where fishing opportunity associated with each point feature may occur.

The Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) maintains an online database of saltwater fishing access sites and locations which directly support recreational fishing that serves as the sample frame for their shoreside survey of recreational anglers. The Site Register (SR) is a database of all access sites along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States from which saltwater recreational fin-fishing may occur. Information provided for each site in the SR includes site descriptors, site location, and recreational fishing activity information by fishing mode (fishing from shore, private or rental boat fishing, charter boat fishing, or headboat fishing). The SR database is maintained at NOAA Fisheries and is accessed by private or public guest account on the website: https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/siteregister/html/siteRegister.jsp (or by searching for ‘MRIP Site Register’ in any web browser). The data contained within this data layer was exported from the SR on February 1, 2021.Locations identified as "Retired" within the original database were not mapped as these locations may no longer exist or may be hostile for MRIP survey purposes. Within New Jersey, 61 locations from the original February 1, 2021 data export were designated as "Retired".Upon creation of the GIS layer based upon the MRIP data, staff from the NJ Marine Fisheries Administration (MFA) reviewed the layer in order to determine whether any additional locations should be included. Upon completion of that review, one additional location was submitted by MFA staff to be included in the GIS product and is included in this dataset. MFA locations can be identified as those points with a Site ID beginning with the number 99000.