NJ Saltwater Fisherman Forums
NJ Saltwater Fisherman => News and Information => Topic started by: IrishAyes on June 23, 2012, 02:19:03 PM
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From NJ.COM...
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/dep_patrols_waters_for_bayway.html
BARNEGAT BAY — Barnegat Bay Jet Skiiers and speed boaters beware.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is watching.
Scientists and park police from the DEP today embarked on a mission of education and enforcement to make sure baygoers aren't harming the local ecosystem.
"Barnegat Bay is a very shallow bay. If you hit the bottom you can churn up these areas" said Terry Caruso, a DEP official who coordinated park police and researchers to school people on appropriate bay behavior.
DEP scientists and park police director Rick Arroyo followed vessels from the State Police, Ocean County Sheriff's Department, as well as vessels from Berkeley, Toms River, Mantoloking and Brick throughout the bay, which has been under environmental threat for 50 years.
The DEP collaborated with Rutgers University to identify 16 ecologically sensitive areas from Mosquito Cove in Toms River to Long Beach South off the coast of Tuckerton.
One thing law enforcement and scientists are looking at today are wakes.
"We have a lot of birds nesting right on the shoreline," said DEP scientist Lynette Lurig. "If you have constant wave action, you're eating away at the land."
Jet Skis and motor boats are prohibited from using their motors within 100 feet of the shoreline.
Churning waters also disturb crucial sea life underwater.
"Eel grass is one of the reasons we're policing the area," Caruso said. "It protects small fish and shellfish from predators."
Aside from the clams and scallops that nest in the 75-square-mile bay, it also is home to shore birds, wading birds, osprey — and even the occasional bald eagle.
Lazy boaters, who have a tendency to dump their human waste in the bay, are also on the DEP's to-do list.
"We have three pumping boats where you can dump out for free," Lurig said.
Arroyo, who led a group of researchers and reporters on the first of several patrols this summer — part of Gov. Chris Christie's 10-point plan to clean up the bay — said the mission today was educational. Next time they won't be so forgiving.
"We're going to give them some instructional materials, and we're going to ensure that they know the laws," Arroyo said. "In the future we're going to have a list. If you're caught with a violation a second time, you're going to get a summons."
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:-X TT^
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I like it! t^
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whs
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I guess there is even more reason to be concerned now that all the yahoos from F cove and that other cove they shut down are now headed south to the comparatively healthier areas around tices shoals.
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t^