Politics & Government

Pallone Visits Shark River Inlet Dredging Project

Army Corps of Engineers removing 30,000 cubic yards of sand

Several officials on Monday gathered at the Shark River Inlet in Belmar to check on the status of a major dredging project intended to ensure continued boat access between the Belmar marina and Atlantic Ocean. 

U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, Ed Wrocenski of the Army Corps of Engineers, and representatives from the Recreational Fishing Alliance were on hand to highlight what officials said was a $495,000 dredging project that began June 20 and is expected to remove roughly 30,000 cubic yards of sand from the inlet. 

The inlet, dredged annually since 2006 with federal funds acquired by Pallone, is crucial to the local and state economy, the congressman said.

Find out what's happening in Manasquan-Belmarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Doherty said small fishing fleets and other small businesses that utilize the inlet depend on access to the ocean for their livelihoods. 

"Tourism is the number one industry in New Jersey, and boat access to the inlet and marina is crucial to the economy," Pallone said.

Find out what's happening in Manasquan-Belmarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wrocenski said the round-the-clock maintenance of the federal channel would last roughly 11 days, ending June 30. 

The sand, or sediment, build-up would be placed inside two deposition basins — giant holes dug into the sea floor — just north of the jetty on the Avon-By-The-Sea side of the inlet, Wrocenski said. 

The Army Corps since 2010 has used that method to turn the previously semi-annual project into a once-per-year job, saving money in the process, Wrocenski said. 

Since the late 1990s shoaling — when sediment builds up at the bottom of the river — has become much more of a nuisance and safety problem for boats navigating the inlet, Wrocenski said. 

Joe Gahrmann, captain of the Sykk Physh sportfishing boat out of Neptune, said safe inlet access was crucial to his and fellow captains' livelihoods. 

"(The inlet) is becoming a real bad issue," Gahrmann said. "If we can't get out then we don't make any money." 

Gahrmann, who also owns and operates the business, said shoaling has destroyed boats and damaged others. 

"We're fighting Mother Nature constantly," Doherty said. 


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