N.J. Stat. § 12:3-21
No person or corporation shall dig, dredge or remove any deposits of sand or other material from the lands of the State lying under tidal waters without a license so to do first obtained as provided in section 12:3-22 of this Title, and any person or corporation who shall so unlawfully dig, dredge or remove any deposit of sand or other material as aforesaid shall forfeit and pay for each and every such offense the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00), to be prosecuted for and recovered by a civil action by any person or persons in any court of competent jurisdiction with costs of suit, the one-half the amount so recovered to be for the use of the State, and the other half to the use of the person or persons who shall sue for and prosecute the same to effect; provided, however, that nothing in this section contained shall prevent the owner of any grant or lease from the State, or the assignee or lessee thereof, from digging, dredging, removing, and taking sand and other material within the lines of, or in front of, such grant or lease, for the purpose of improving lands granted or leased to them, or their grantors or lessors, by the State, nor prevent such owner, assignee or lessee from digging or dredging a channel or channels to the main channels, and removing and taking the material therefrom.
N.J.S. § 12:3-21