New Jersey ends Island Beach fishing-vehicle permit lottery for 2027

New Jersey will drop the lottery for Mobile Sport Fishing Vehicle permits at Island Beach State Park in 2027. The Department of Environmental Protection said it will sell an unlimited number of permits, after anglers and Ocean County legislators argued the lottery shut out longtime local users. Online sales open Dec. 15. Buyers must hold a valid New Jersey Saltwater Recreational Registry at purchase — free registration required for anglers 16 and older — and pick up the permit in person at the park.

Beach access rules do not change. Driving on the beach stays first-come, first-served, with a hard limit of 500 vehicles on the sand at once. Permit prices hold at $195 for New Jersey residents and $225 for nonresidents for the annual sticker, or $150 and $175 for weekday-only.

Ocean County lawmakers had filed bills to force unlimited permits after the lottery years. Assemblyman Gregory McGuckin told Jersey Newsroom the commissioner adopted the key piece of that legislation as DEP policy. The park once sold permits at the gate; online sales during the pandemic led to website crashes and then the lottery, which left some decades-long beach fishermen without a sticker while out-of-state applicants got in.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Jersey Newsroom — Island Beach State Park will sell unlimited fishing vehicle permits in 2027 (Nov. 2, 2026). Also: NJDEP Island Beach MSFV permits.