Gov. Phil Murphy is doubling down on his opposition to a bear hunt despite the rise in sightings in New Jersey.

There have been 347 bear sightings reported so far this year. There were 205 sightings in total in 2021, according to state wildlife officials.

“I continue to be on the side of what we have done and that is to end the bear hunt. Connecticut has not had a bear since the 1840s, so it can be done,” Murphy said during his call-in radio show in Newark. “There have been one too many sightings over the past number of months for my taste. We have spent a lot of time with the DEP on how to be non-lethal at this and better at this.”

Three dogs and one person were attacked by bears this year. There were no attacks in 2021.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Steven Oroho says ending the bear hunt is to blame for the increase in attacks and sightings.

“Unfortunately, non-lethal methods for managing the bear population such as trap and transfer are expensive, ineffective, and merely shift the problem somewhere else temporarily,” Oroho said in a statement.

Oroho says the governor should have listened to the Fish and Game Council, who recommended an emergency hunt last year, but was ignored.