Business & Tech

Last of N.J. Shellfish Beds Closed Since Sandy Reopen

Raritan Bay shellfish beds will open April 15

The last of New Jersey's shellfish beds that have been closed since Superstorm Sandy struck Oct. 29, 2012 are in the process of reopening.

Shellfish beds in Little Egg Harbor opened Friday morning at sunrise and beds in Raritan Bay will open at sunrise April 15, the state Department of Environmental Protection said Friday.

With the resumption of shellfish harvesting in both areas, all of New Jersey's shellfish beds once closed as a result of Superstorm Sandy will now return to the classifications they had before the storm hit at the end of October, the department said in a statement.

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The vast majority of the waters of Barnegat Bay had been reopened to shellfishing over the past several months, though a small section of Little Egg Harbor, considered to be the portion of the bay south of the Route 72 bridge to Long Beach Island, remained closed.

DEP tissue sampling of clams from this area of the bay now meet standards set by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, a state and federal cooperative effort that monitors and ensures the health safety of shellfish.

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"It has been a long road for many shellfish harvesters who have had their livelihoods compromised by Superstorm Sandy," DEP Commissioner Robert Martin said in the statement. "The shellfish industry is very important to the state. I commend the industry for working cooperatively with us to protect public health. The reopening of Raritan Bay shellfish beds is particularly significant because these beds provide the largest area in the state for harvesting of hard clams."

Superstorm Sandy impacted shellfish beds primarily by causing wastewater system failures and overflows into coastal waters. Most discharges stopped shortly after the storm, according to the DEP, but by then water temperatures had dropped, slowing down the metabolism of the shellfish. In some areas of the state, shellfish had difficulty purging themselves of viruses and bacteria.

The DEP monitors more than 720,000 acres of commercial shellfish beds in the state's ocean waters and estuaries as well as all recreational harvesting. The department said it would continue to monitor the beds along with the New Jersey Department of Health and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.


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