News
Baykeeper "Devastated' By Shellfish Ban
By Ryan Fennell
Trenton - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin banned research related gardening of commercial shellfish species in bodies of water classified as contaminated.
According to the NJDEP the goal is to protect the public health and economic health of New Jersey's significant shellfish industry.
The purpose of eliminating these projects in contaminated waters is to minimize any negative impact to New Jersey's $790 million per year shellfish industry if an illness outbreak occurred due to the consumption of shellfish raised in research or educational projects.
"While we have high regard for research work being done on shellfish, we must ensure this small segment of shellfish growing does not cause a problem for the entire industry," Martin said. "Anything growing in contaminated waters must be shut down. We do not want to have contaminated oysters or clams getting into the public food supply."
"If someone gets sick from eating shellfish from contaminated waters, people may stop buying or eating New Jersey products or shellfish from approved waters," Martin continued. "It could severely hurt the industry. It is more important than ever, with the problems faced by the shellfish industry in the Gulf States, to protect New Jersey's vibrant shellfish industry." The NJDEP makes approximately 60 arrests annually of illegal harvesters or poachers in restricted waters, primarily in the New York/New Jersey harbor or Raritan Bay.
According to the DEP the department does not have the resources to adequately patrol these areas where shellfish are placed by gardeners, leaving them open to poachers, which is a concern to the Food and Drug Administration.
The NY/NJ Baykeeper called the decision "devastating."
"Essentially, this pretty much shuts down Baykeeper's Oyster Restoration Program," said Oyster Gardening and Volunteer Coordinator Christine Lynn. "The water bodies we primarily work in are all considered special, restricted, or prohibited. So, unless there's some changes made to this we will not be able to complete any of our projects and will have to stop our volunteer and educational activities which is bad, bad news."
According to Lynn the Baykeeper organization stands to lose over $400,000 in grant funding from this decision.
"If we lose that funding the oyster program staff is out of a job," Lynn said.
Lynn contends that the decision to shut down these programs was not prompted by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico but the notion has been circulating in draft form for several years.
"We've been trying to work with them to answer their concerns," Lynn said. "We've changed some things to try to make it more agreeable to them and tried to develop a compromise in terms of patrolling. They are not cooperative and not interested in that conversation at all." According to Lynn when water quality is poor and is home to a large density of shellfish the state is required to patrol these areas at a higher frequency.
Lynn said that Baykeeper has suggested a volunteer deputized force that could complement the state's patrols.
"The DEP is trying to protect the industry because they aren't capable of doing what they are supposed to do," Lynn said.
However, the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to increase the value of shellfish elsewhere, therefore creating the assumption that people might become more inclined to illegally harvest these research and educational projects.
"New Jersey has a great, nationally leading shellfish industry, that is number one in yield and second only to Massachusetts in its economic value," Martin said. "It is a safe and clean industry and one that we must protect." Martin stressed that the state fully supports these educational and environmental projects when they are in compliance with DEP policy. Martin said that the DEP would work with research groups to identify waters where they can continue their efforts and explore alternative options.
"While stewardship is important and the DEP wants people to work with us to improve the quality of our state's waters, public health and protection of the industry is paramount," Martin said. "We hope to develop new rules that could offer alternatives and gives direction to stewardship programs on how to undertake such projects in a safe and responsible manner." According to Lynn, Baykeeper is currently working toward examining all legal avenues in an attempt to continue programs that are currently underway.
"We're working on a strategy so we can at least gather some data before taking it apart," Lynn said. "It will be a loss for the state of New Jersey."
