N.J. Stat. § 23:3-55
The board may, in its discretion, issue permits to catch suckers, catfish, carp and eels from August fifteenth to November fifteenth, by or with the use of what is commonly known as a fish basket with wing walls, the bottom of which shall be made of wooden slats, the edges of which are well rounded, set not less than three-eighths of an inch apart, when wet. These slats shall be so arranged as to make possible the removal or practical removal of at least three-quarters of the bottom of any basket that could be used for fishing, and the same shall be actually removed from the basket or so adjusted as to make the catching of a fish by the basket an impossibility during that part of each day beginning at one hour after sunrise and continuing to one hour before sunset. Every game fish that may come into a basket thus operated shall be immediately released unharmed in the waters below the basket.
N.J.S. § 23:3-55