{"id":7706,"date":"2022-04-20T16:42:36","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T16:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/?page_id=7706"},"modified":"2026-02-10T15:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:26:08","slug":"bureau-of-freshwater-fisheries","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/fishing\/freshwater\/bureau-of-freshwater-fisheries\/","title":{"rendered":"Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Hackettstown Hatchery<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Research and Management<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Pequest Trout Hatchery<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries is responsible for the propagation, protection and management of the State\u2019s freshwater fisheries resources as well as promoting its recreational use. These diverse resources include habitat and fisheries resources in waters from small, coldwater streams in the northwest to tidal rivers along the state’s borders including seasonal migrations of anadromous fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To meet management goals and assure the long term protection of the state’s aquatic resources, fisheries biologists conduct fishery surveys on the state’s freshwater lakes and streams, propose surface water classifications and provide technical input on a multitude of land use, watershed, and habitat based issues. For more efficient management of aquatic resources, the state is divided into five regional management areas. In addition to administering to these regional responsibilities, each fisheries biologist has a specific area of expertise and oversees related research and management projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Freshwater Biologists and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Research and Management Supervisor<\/strong>
Federal Aid Coordinator<\/strong>
Chris Smith, Supervising Fisheries Biologist
Christopher.Smith@deptest.nj.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisheries Management in the Upper Delaware Watersheds
Wild Trout Management, Stream Habitat, & GIS<\/strong>
Ross Shramko, Principal Fisheries Biologist
Ross.Shramko@deptest.nj.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisheries Management in the Raritan and Rahway Watersheds
Native Species Management, Water Quality, Database, & Statistics<\/strong>
Scott Collenburg, Principal Fisheries Biologist
Scott.Collenburg@deptest.nj.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisheries Management in the Lower Delaware River Watersheds from Rancocas Creek southward around Cape May up to Mullica\/ Wading River Watersheds
Warmwater Fisheries Management, Anadromous Species, & Fish Passage<\/strong>
Eric Boehm, Senior Fisheries Biologist
Eric.Boehm@deptest.nj.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisheries Management in the Wallkill, Passaic, Pequannock, & Hackensack Watersheds
Coolwater Species Management & Lake Salmonids Management<\/strong>
Justin Rozema, Assistant Fisheries Biologist
Justin.Rozema@deptest.nj.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator<\/strong>
Samantha MacQuesten, Assistant Fisheries Biologist
Samantha.Macquesten@deptest.nj.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisheries Management in the Middle Delaware Watersheds including Assunpink Creek and Crosswicks Creek and Atlantic Coastal Watersheds from Matawan Creek to Lower Little Egg Harbor Watersheds
Trout Stocking Coordinator & Skillful Angler Program<\/strong>
Kyle Civalier, Assistant Fisheries Biologist
Kyle.Civalier@deptest.nj.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Bureau also includes the operation of Fish and Wildlife’s\u00a0Pequest Trout Hatchery<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery<\/a>, coordinating the distribution of 16 species of fish. More than 2,000,000 fish are stocked annually in over 250 waterbodies located throughout the state, providing superior angling opportunities. The Pequest Trout Hatchery raises and stocks almost 600,000 Rainbow Trout each year during the spring and fall trout stocking periods.\u00a0The Hackettstown Hatchery raises the State\u2019s warmwater and coolwater species. The hatchery also supplies the State\u2019s Mosquito Commission with sunfish, killifish and gambusia to assist with the Commission\u2019s efforts for effective mosquito control. Both the Pequest and Hackettstown hatcheries are in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Additionally, the bureau also facilitates habitat restoration projects and serves as a liaison to a variety of forums concerning the status of the state’s fishery resources. The bureau, in coordination with the New Jersey Fish and Game Council<\/a>, establishes season and daily creel limits for freshwater fish species. It also administers permits for fish stocking, water lowering, commercial harvests, and scientific collecting to further provide for the effective management and protection of the state’s aquatic resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bureau activities are funded by New Jersey sportsmen and woman, through the sale of fishing licenses and permits and through a Federal excise tax on the manufacturing fishing related equipment. Federal excise tax money is distributed through the Sport Fish Restoration Program<\/a> administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NEW: New Jersey Freshwater Fishing Explorer<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hackettstown Hatchery Research and Management Pequest Trout Hatchery The Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries is responsible for the propagation, protection and management of the State\u2019s freshwater fisheries resources as well as promoting its recreational use. These diverse resources include habitat and fisheries resources in waters from small, coldwater streams in the northwest to tidal rivers along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"parent":12,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7706","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7706"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64562,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7706\/revisions\/64562"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}