Pass The Oyster Reef Bill

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The Two River Times has a 25 year long history of advocating for the health of its waterways and in that tradition, the newspaper urges the Senate to pass a bill Sept. 24 allowing NY/NJ Baykeeper to develop oyster beds and reefs along the coast to study the effects on water filtration and shore stabilization.
In 2010, the Keyport Harbor and Navesink River beds were dismantled because the state Department of Environmental Protection did not have the manpower to enforce concerns by the federal Environmental Protection Agency that oysters would be poached from tainted water for consumption.
The program was moved a year later, after negotiations with the Navy, and limited to about a 1⁄4 acre reef at the U.S. Naval Weapons Station Earle in 2011 because of the round the clock security offered at the base.
That allied the fears of the EPA. Since that time Baykeeper and the Navy agree the oysters have had a strong growth and survival rate, as well as filtering water and improving its quality.
In addition, as the reefs expand they create an offshore wave break that assists in storm resiliency. Since the Navy predicts we could see anywhere from a 1 1⁄2 foot to 7 foot rise in sea levels, the reefs would serve an important role in easing damage.
The water quality is improving and the reefs would filter water, making it even better, and block wave damage, it seems only sensible the Senate allow further expansion of the reefs. We strongly urge passage of the bill by the Senate and allow this good program to go ahead.
The environmental organizations in this region like Baykeeper, are all working to improve our coastal habitat and marine live as well as our water quality. Let’s just let them do it.
The program has proved a success for four years now and it’s time to expand it to Keyport Harbor and the Navesink. It is also incumbent upon the public not to poach these oysters. Perhaps Baykeeper could join with the American Littoral Society, Clean Ocean Action, the Sandy Hook Foundation and the Sea Grant Consortium to expand educational programs in the schools as well as in public forums to help keep the oyster reefs flourishing and in place, where they belong.
If the oyster reefs can indeed flourish, our water quality will improve dramatically and oysters will eventually be safely harvested in the area again. Seems like that’s a really good deal for all involved.