Marine Sanctuary Proposal Quietly Recedes

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Story and photo by Joseph Sapia
A proposal asking the federal government to declare Sandy Hook Bay and part of its watershed a national marine sanctuary is no longer active.
The Middletown-based Navesink Maritime Heritage Association (NMHA) did not find the support it was looking for on the proposal, said Hendrik “Rik” F. van Hemmen, the association’s vice president. Commercial and recreational fishing communities were heavily opposed to the proposal, fearing added regulations.
Additionally, the “Rally for the Navesink,” a community-government effort led by the Sandy Hook-based Clean Ocean Action environmental group to clean the Navesink River and its watershed of pollutants, has been well under way since June.
“Many of the tasks and discussions that need to be taking place are taking place at the Rally for the Navesink,” said van Hemmen, who is an active participant. “The goals are related. At this stage, it’s much more important to build experience and cooperation, rather than force just one concept like the national marine sanctuary.”
The NMHA’s decision not to file national marine sanctuary paperwork was met with relief by various groups.
“The designation of a national marine sanctuary can take many years, is currently very controversial and is not focused (on) reducing water pollution,” said Cindy Zipf, COA’s executive director. “Given the downgrading of the Navesink River, we believe that reducing pollution is the most urgent priority and would also bring unity. Recent work of the NMHA toward that goal is most helpful.”
A national marine sanctuary is “not necessary,” said William D. Kastning, executive director of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF). Kastning said MCF agrees with the Rally for the Navesink’s approach of environmental education about the river and addressing problems that cause pollution.
The river’s pollution problem, according to those involved with its cleanup, is likely non-point source pollution, such as animal waste, lawn products, and other pollutants carried in water runoff.
“I do agree the Rally for the Navesink is doing the right thing, although it will take some time,” Kastning said.
Van Hemmen, a marine engineer who lives in Fair Haven, said he decided in recent months not to file paperwork with the federal government on the sanctuary proposal, which he began publicly talking about about a year ago.
The proposal called for a marrying of environmental, commercial, recreational, marine education, historical, and cultural pieces in Sandy Hook Bay and the part of its watershed to where tidal waters end.
The rough boundary of the sanctuary would have been Sandy Hook Bay to the north and the Long Branch area to the south, then west to east from Naval Weapons Station Earle pier to the Atlantic Ocean.
The national marine sanctuary could have been used to promote towns or the region, along with businesses, according to the proposal. The sanctuary would have been accessible in a number of ways, such as by road, boat or train, van Hemmen said.
All or parts of 17 municipalities would have been in the sanctuary: Atlantic Highlands, Colts Neck, Eatontown, Fair Haven, Highlands, Little Silver, Long Branch, Middletown, Monmouth Beach, Oceanport, Red Bank, Rumson, Sea Bright, Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls and West Long Branch.
“I think people are concerned about the unknown, how far this would go,” said Middletown Mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger.
Scharfenberger saw what NMHA had proposed as addressing issues, rather than proposing added regulations. But the fear of added regulations concerned many, said Joe Branin, general manager of the Belford Seafood Co-Op in Middletown.
“It would be a shame to close down a historical fishery that for the last hundred years has been a way of life,” Branin said.
But van Hemmen questioned whether opponents of the proposal were too quick to say no, without analyzing the proposal. “I do have a sense the naysayers said no without really thinking through the concept,” van Hemmen said.
Van Hemmen wrote about the proposal in the second edition of his book, “A Chronology of Boating on the Navesink River,” which came out around Thanksgiving 2015.
Around Christmas 2015, the NMHA began talking publicly about the proposal and van Hemmen published a commentary on the proposal in The Two River Times.
In January, van Hemmen approached the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about the proposal. In the spring, van Hemmen began presenting forums on it. A proposal would have been made to NOAA, followed by state input and hearings. The state’s governor could end the process.
“The effort is on the record and we’ve learned from it,” van Hemmen said.
But all that time and effort was not lost. The sanctuary proposal “has given people an inspiration to think about our area in a different sense,” van Hemmen said.
“In general, any activist who wants to draw attention to water quality concerns in the area, we should be paying attention,” said Debbie Mans, executive director of the Keyport-based New York-New Jersey Baykeeper environmental group. “We have work to do to achieve swimmable and fishable waters. That’s the (federal) Clean Water Act standard.”