State Updates Map of Open Shellfish Beds Safe for Harvesting

In addition to shellfish beds in the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers that opened earlier this month, the state maintains a up-to-date map of where it's safe to fish and harvest.

Bob Martin, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, said once water monitoring and tissue sampling found no issues with contamination from bacteria or viruses following superstorm Sandy in a body of water, the area is reopened.

“So much of our coastline and our fishing industry took significant hits from the storm, so we are pleased to reopen these additional shellfish beds and get people back to work in areas affected by the storm,” Martin said. 

The DEP closed all New Jersey shellfish beds to commercial and recreational harvesting on October 29 in preparation for Hurricane Sandy, due to concerns over degradation of coastal water quality from the storm.

For more information, including a state-wide map of reopened shellfish beds, visit http://www.nj.gov/dep/wms/bmw/sandy.html.