Statutes, codes, and regulations
New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONChapter 25 - DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE RULES
Subchapter 14 - CRAB AND LOBSTER MANAGEMENT
Section 7:25-14.13 - Size of lobster taken

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:25-14.13

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Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024
Section 7:25-14.13 - Size of lobster taken
(a) A person shall not take from the marine waters of this State by any means, import, export, offload at any port, have in his or her possession, buy, sell or offer to buy or sell, any American lobster of the genus and species Homarus americanus, which when measured from the rear end of the eye socket along a line parallel to the center line of the body shell to the rear end of the body shell is less than the lengths listed below after the dates stipulated.

$ QAfterMinimum Size (inches)
$
August 19, 20023 1/4
July 1, 20023 5/16
July 1, 20033 11/32
July 1, 200433/8

(b) A person fishing in Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Lobster Management Area (LMA) 3 or that has designated Lobster Management Area 3 for fishing on their Federal Fisheries Permit or State Lobster Pot Permit shall not take, land, have in his or her possession, sell or offer to sell any American lobster with a length as measured in (a) above that is less than the length listed below after the dates stipulated:

AfterMinimum Size (inches)
July 1, 20053 13/32
July 1, 20063 7/16
July 1, 20073 15/32
July 1, 20083 1/2
January 1, 20133 17/32

(c) A person fishing in ASMFC Lobster Management Area 3, 4 and/or 5 or that has designated Lobster Management 3, 4 and/or 5 for fishing on their Federal Fisheries or State Lobster Pot Permit shall not take, land, have in his or her possession, sell or offer for sale any American lobster with a length as measured in (a) above that is greater than the length listed below after the dates stipulated.

ASMFC Lobster ManagementDatesMaximum Size (inches)
Area
LMA 3after July 1, 20126 3/4
LMA 4after July 1, 20025 1/4
LMA 5after July 1, 20045 1/4

(d) A person shall not import, export, have in his or her possession, buy, sell or offer to buy or sell any American lobster that does not comply with the size limits for the Lobster Management Areas as stipulated in (a) through (c) above.
(e) The maximum size limits stipulated in (c) above apply to the recreational harvest of American lobster. The minimum size limit for American lobster harvested for recreational purposes shall comply with those stipulated in (a) above and shall not be sold, offered for sale or bartered.
(f) A State Lobster Pot Permittee possessing a Type A, B, C, E or F Permit shall report to the Department the initial ASMFC Lobster Management Area(s) he or she intends to fish and notify the Department prior to relocating to a different Lobster Management Area(s). Notification shall be sent to:

NJ Lobster Pot Permit Program

Nacote Creek Research Station

PO Box 418

Port Republic, NJ 08241

1. If the permittee identifies more than one ASMFC Lobster Management Area as an area he or she intends to fish, then the more restrictive maximum and/or minimum size limit of those identified areas shall apply to that permittee's possession, landing and sale of lobsters.
(g) A person shall not take from the marine waters of this State by any means, possess at sea or offload at any port an American lobster, which is damaged or mutilated to the extent that its length as specified in (a) above cannot be determined.
(h) A person shall not import, export, have in his or her possession, buy, sell, or offer to buy or sell, any detached American lobster tail, if the sixth abdominal segment (that segment closest to the fan of the tail), when measured along its dorsal center line with the tail flexed, is less than one and one-eighth inches in length.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:25-14.13

New Rule, R.1999 d.52, effective 2/16/1999.
See: 30 N.J.R. 3881(a), 31 N.J.R. 538(a).
Former N.J.A.C. 7:25-14.13, Penalties, recodified to N.J.A.C. 7:25-14.18.
Amended by R.2002 d.277, effective 8/19/2002.
See: 34 N.J.R. 1375(a), 34 N.J.R. 2995(a).
Rewrote (a); added (b) to (f); recodified existing (b) and (c) as (g) and (h).
Administrative correction.
See: 34 N.J.R. 3641(c).
Administrative change.
See: 40 N.J.R. 150(c).
Administrative change.
See: 44 N.J.R. 1973(a).
Administrative change and correction.
See: 46 N.J.R. 212(b).