With the summer fishing season starting to wind down, Virginia and federal officials are reminding people who have been or are planning to go saltwater fishing this year to register with the National Saltwater Angler Registry if they’re required to do so.

A new federal law that went into effect in January says that, with a few exceptions, anglers must register if they’re in federal waters, or if they are targeting or might catch anadromous species—fish such stripers, shad and river herring that live in saltwater but spawn in fresh water, said John Bull, spokesperson for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Although registering is the law, officials stress that the Registry—new tool that will help NOAA and anglers work together to conserve our oceans—is intended more as a benefit than a burden to fishermen, Bull said. According to NOAA Fisheries’ representative Gordon Colvin, it is important for three major reasons:

First, as a national ...