NY/NJ Baykeeper Oyster Restoration Program Fact Sheet Since 2001, Baykeeper’s Oyster Restoration Program had engaged more than 4,000 volunteers, including school groups, boy and girl scouts, civic and community organizations and individual citizens and families. Until 2010, NY/NJ Baykeeper cultivated thriving reefs in Keyport Harbor and the Navesink River. On June 7, 2010, NJDEP banned the use of commercial shellfish for research projects in contaminated waters under the guise of protecting New Jersey’s $790 million-a-year shellfish industry. It was later revealed that on June 2, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued a letter to NJDEP citing statewide nonconformance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, specifically citing lack of adequate patrols and vessels, regulating the discharge of human waste from harvest vessels, and a shortfall in water sampling. Out of thirty designated patrol areas, 21 (70 percent) failed to be in compliance during one or more thirty day patrol periods for FY 2009 according to FDA’s Annual Program Evaluation Report. The Report did not demand the banning of research work utilizing commercial shellfish. NY/NJ Baykeeper removed oysters from Keyport Harbor in order to comply with NJDEP’s order. NY/NJ Baykeeper’s research reefs were the largest in-water oyster research project in the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary and Baykeeper staff and Rutgers University were just beginning to gather important scientific data to assess the feasibility of large-scale oyster restoration efforts in the area’s waterbodies at the time the ban was imposed. The removal of the reefs translated into the loss of water quality improvements, jobs, and volunteer and educational programming in NJ schools. Timeline of NJDEP’s Ban • 1999: Baykeeper begins its oyster restoration program • 2007: Baykeeper is the beneficiary of a settlement agreement between Chevron and the NJ Attorney General’s Office that provides $975,000 specifically to fund oyster restoration in Raritan Bay • 2007: Baykeeper awarded Honorable Mention in the Healthy Ecosystems Category of the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards in part for its Oyster Restoration Program • Dec. 2009: NJDEP endorses the Hudson-Raritan Estuary Comprehensive Restoration Plan, developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Port Authority of NY & NJ, that calls for the restoration of 500 acres of oyster reef by 2015 and 5,000 acres by 2050 • June 7, 2010: NJDEP bans the use of commercial shellfish in research-related activities in contaminated waters • June 10, 2010: NJDEP directs Baykeeper to remove and dispose of oysters from research bed • June 17, 2010: Baykeeper responds and asks for a hearing on this de facto revocation of the permit • June 24: Senators Cardinale and Sarlo introduce legislation that would reverse NJDEP’s ban (followed by Assembly members: Wagner, Voss and McKeon introducing companion legislation on July 1) • July 15: NJDEP issues Notice of Violation to Baykeeper and Press Release the same day as committing to work with Baykeeper in front of the Senate Environment Committee • July 20: Baykeeper agrees to comply with the Notice of Violation and submits a removal plan for the oysters • July 29, 2010: NJDEP denies Baykeeper’s permit to create a new reef in the Shrewsbury River – a site that Baykeeper was directed to by NJDEP staff
One year after the ban was imposed, NY/NJ Baykeeper secured an alternate location for oyster restoration under the watchful eye of the United States Navy. NY/NJ Baykeeper is currently working at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown in a ¼ acre area testing reef structures and monitoring oysters for growth and survivorship within an aquaculture facility. However, volunteers, members of the press, and the general public are not able to work and learn about the reef – stifling our research capabilities. This session, bills A3944/S2617 was introduced which would lift NJDEP’s ban on shellfish restoration, research, and education programs within inner harbor and coastal waters.
NY/NJ BAYKEEPER
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