Hundreds of pounds of spat, or baby oysters were taken Sunday from the Haskin Shellfish Laboratory where they had been growing in mud flats and relocated to artificial reefs along the Delaware Bay shore.
The spat had been growing on the surface of shell-filled mesh bags since the early summer near the Rutgers University Haskin Shellfish Laboratory’s Cape Shore facility in Cape May County as part of Project PORTS: Promoting Oyster Restoration Through Schools, or PORTS. The bags were relocated by barge to a 5-acre reef located at the Gandy’s Beach Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Area in the Delaware Bay off Cumberland County. Led by Lisa Calvo, Shellfish Aquaculture Coordinator for Rutgers University and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, Project PORTS has seeded more than 20 million oysters in conservation sites like Gandy’s Beach throughout the Delaware Bay since it began in 2007.
Since 2007, Rutgers has seeded more than 20 million oysters in conservation sites throughout the Delaware Bay through Project: PORTS.
“Scientific assessments indicate these restoration efforts have been successful,” said Jenny Paterno, a Rutgers graduate student examining the fish activity in the restoration areas and nearby parts of the bay. “A viable multi-generational oyster population, approaching natural oyster abundances, has been established in an area that was previously barren.”
Oyster populations have been decimated in many areas due to disease and overfishing. “Advancing Eastern Oyster Aquaculture through Marker-Assisted Selection” is one of New Jersey Sea Grant’s funded research projects for 2014-16. Dr. Ximing Gou, and his team at the Haskin Laboratory, are attempting to breed oysters with specific genetic markers that will assist the species in fighting diseases. Read More …
The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) Resilience Research RFP is now available and can be viewed or downloaded by clicking here. The NJSGC is one of 34 state Sea Grant Programs within the National Sea Grant College Program. The National Program is housed within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce. Sea Grant addresses marine issues and coastal sustainability in the context of wise resource use and management. In New Jersey, we are interested in balancing economic growth with resource stewardship to sustain the state’s $80+ billion coastal economy. NJSGC fulfills its mission to promote the sustainable use of New Jersey’s coastal and marine resources through relevant research and student training, educational excellence, and rapid dissemination of acquired knowledge. NJSGC is a statewide program bringing together the best talent within the region’s member colleges and universities without regard to academic affiliation.
The Graduate Fisheries Fellowship Program administered through NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) awards at least two new PhD fellowships each year to students who are interested in careers related to marine ecosystem and population dynamics, with a focus on modeling and managing systems of living marine resources. This year, Princeton University PhD student Lisa McManus has been awarded a NMFS-Sea Grant Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Graduate Fisheries Fellowship to pursue research on her project: Assessing the impacts of connectivity on coral reef metacommunity dynamics in the Coral Triangle. Princeton University is a member institution of the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium who manages Ms. McManus’ fellowship award.
You can now register for two Boy Scout Individual Enrollment classes: Oceanography and Environmental Science. We offer these classes once in the fall and once in the spring. It is for individual scouts (not whole troops) who wish to study Oceanography or Environmental Science.
The COASTodian summer ’14 issue is now available for online viewing or download. The COASTodian is the NJSGC’s quarterly newsletter publication that covers news and noteworthy updates on our research, education, extension, and communications efforts.
This issue includes information on a recent Undersea Habitat Imaging Workshop, our 2014 State of the Shore Media Event and Rain Barrel Art Project, Stew Tweed Fisheries Scholarship recipient announcements, the success of an oyster co-op extension agent Lisa Calvo has been facilitating, and more. Read or download the issue here.
The Cape May Oyster Cooperative, a newly established cooperative comprised of six founding member oyster farms, has received funds from USDA’s Rural Business Enterprise to purchase a refrigerated van, which will ensure the safe delivery of product from field to packing facility and enable the integration of direct delivery to local food markets. Lisa Calvo, extension agent for the NJSGC, is the Aquaculture Program Coordinator at Rutgers University’s Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory and has been a key resource in guiding the co-op initiative.
In conjunction with this year’s Top Ten Beaches Survey, a unique and educational tie-in was launched: the Rain Barrel Art Project. In an effort to create public awareness around the use of rain barrels and the ways in which they help conserve water, we selected twelve New Jersey artists to paint a barrel with an iconic Jersey Shore scene. The result was a beautiful, creative, and stunning display. View the rain barrels here. Now we’re rolling them out at shore area events and festivals.
NJSGC and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program have teamed up to use rain barrels as a tie-in project for New Jersey Top Ten Beaches 2014. A rain barrel is a 55-gallon recycled food-grade container placed at the downspout of a roof to collect rain water. They help the environment by reducing the amount of rain that flows into storm drain systems, which helps prevent flooding and cuts down on pollution entering New Jersey’s waters. Collected rainwater can be used to water gardens and for other household tasks.
SANDY HOOK, NJ: The 2014 State of the Shore Media Event took place on Thursday, May 22 at McLoone’s Supper Club on the Asbury Park boardwalk. The annual event is hosted by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) and features a report on the condition of New Jersey’s beaches prepared and presented by Dr. Jon Miller, NJSGC’s Coastal Processes Specialist. Dr. Miller is also a Research Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. Additional speakers included Dr. Stewart Farrell, Director of the Richard Stockton College Coastal Research Center and NJDEP’s Commissioner Bob Martin. Winners of the New Jersey Top Ten Beaches survey were also announced at the event along with the unveiling of a new project for the NJSGC, the Rain Barrel Art Project.
Sandy Hook, NJ: The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) has announced and awarded its 2014 Stew Tweed Fisheries and Aquaculture Scholarships, established in memory of Stewart Tweed, a 27-year veteran of the New Jersey Sea Grant Marine Extension Service, who passed away in early 2007. The scholarships were presented by Claire Antonucci, Executive Director and Director of Education at NJSGC, and Tom Hayes, Director of Community Relations at New Jersey Natural Gas during Ocean Fun Days at NJSGC’s headquarters on Sandy Hook on Sunday, May 18th, 2014. Also on hand for the presentation was Stew’s wife Gail Tweed.