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New Hampshire
Saltwater Fishing

Saltwater Fishing


Welcome to 2023-24 New Hampshire Saltwater Fishing

2023 New Hampshire Saltwater Fishing Regulations Cover

New Rules for 2023

Adventure on the Coast

Direcotr of NH Fish and Game

As the Director of the NH Fish and Game Department it is my pleasure to welcome you to our digest of regulations for saltwater fishing on our seacoast. Though I live up north, my uncle was a commercial lobsterman in Maine and I spent many a day as a kid digging clams and harvesting oysters. Our coastal anglers can experience sport fishing at its finest including: striped bass, bluefish, mackerel, flounder, tuna, haddock, black sea bass, and more.

New Hampshire’s estuarine and saltwater species, including fish, lobsters, clams, and oysters, are managed by Fish and Game’s Marine Fisheries Division, based in Durham. Our biologists work closely with other state and federal agencies to protect and maintain our marine resources and habitats for both recreational and commercial fisheries. To read more about some of their important work visit wildnh.com/marine/projects.html.

Our staff are busy out and about as well and you can help. If you encounter Fish and Game’s trained survey staff at one of the many saltwater fishing access sites along New Hampshire’s seacoast or on the ice this winter, I encourage you to take a few minutes to speak with them and participate in the Access Point Angler Intercept Survey or the Winter Smelt Survey. Fish and Game also invites striped bass anglers to report catch and effort online as well. Find out about these and other survey efforts involving the public at wildnh.com/marine.

So whatever your interest, or if you are new to saltwater angling, enjoy the beauty of the New Hampshire coast and all that we have to offer in our small state. See you on the water!

Scott R. Mason
Executive Director
N.H. Fish and Game Department