I cut this out of a blog:
The Atlantic Highlands boats did better on bass yesterday than those from the Shore. The Fishermen had a slow start before getting steady action with slots and up to 34 inches. Plain jigs worked best, but a couple were caught on shads. The Sea Hunter reported boating 18 bonus bass yesterday plus a bigger one ...

What is a "Bonus Bass"? Is it the same as "Autumn Harvest" (an indigenous term I heard around the Canal)

found this on the NJDEP site

https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/bonusbas.htm#:~:text=With%20a%20bonus%20permit%2C% 20anglers,st%20or%202nd%20fish).

One fish per permit 24" to less than 28"
May 15, 2020 - December 31, 2020

As there is no commercial fishery in NJ, their commercial allocation is transferred to a bonus fish for the recreational sector. CT used to have the very same thing but did away with it in 2020. The harvest that results from the bonus fish results in a very low number of the actual allocation being harvested. For instance, in 2018 they only harvested 3.1% of the quota.

That said, everyone likes to jump on NJ for being the demon when it comes to fishery management. In this case, while I don't agree with distributing the commercial quota to the rec side, it's nowhere near the harvest taking place in 1000 other places up and down the coast which no one ever complains about.