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Low-Profile Gillnet Requirement
Starting January 1, 2026, vessels fishing on a monkfish DAS using gillnet gear with mesh size equal or greater than 10 inches within the New Jersey Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch Reduction Area (pictured above) must use low-profile gillnet gear. This is defined as having:
- Mesh size ranging from 12 to 13 inches,
- Net height ranging from 6 to 8 meshes tall,
- Net length of 300 feet,
- Tie-down length less than or equal to 30 inches,
- Tie-down spacing of 12 feet,
- Primary hanging ratio of 0.50,
- Twine size of 0.81mm, and
- Tie downs at every float to keep the float line down.
Overnight Soak Prohibitions
Starting May 1, 2025, the following seasonal measures are effective:
- From November 1 through 30 and May 1 through 31 of each year, vessels with a federal spiny dogfish permit fishing in the New Jersey Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch Reduction Area (pictured above) using roundfish gillnet gear with mesh size greater than or equal to 5 inches and less than 10 inches are prohibited from leaving gillnet gear in the water from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am the following day; and
- From November 1 through March 31 of each year, vessels with a federal spiny dogfish permit fishing in the Delaware and Maryland Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch Reduction Area and/or the Virginia Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch Reduction Area (pictured above) using roundfish gillnet gear with mesh size greater than or equal to 5.25 inches and less than 10 inches are prohibited from leaving gillnet gear in the water from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am the following day.
