Rutgers Study on Barnegat Bay Not Good

[Pfishingruven]

Why does this issue have to become political?  It is the politics and politicians that have, indirectly created this problem by ignoring it for so many years.  The people using the Bay have been saying this for years now.  It's not rocket science...if you pollute the water and continue to do so at such high levels, the entire system will collapse eventually!!

   

Rutgers study says Barnegat Bay ecosystem will continue to decline unless development, runoff decreases

By The Associated Press

The fragile Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor ecosystem is getting worse and will continue to decline unless development and storm water runoff into the bay are reduced, according to a new Rutgers University study.
The study, released Wednesday, finds Barnegat Bay to be highly stressed due to decades of nitrogen and phosphorus entering the waterway from lawns, parking lots and driveways and sewer system overflows.
"This study paints a rather bleak picture," said Michael Kennish, the study's lead investigator.
He said the bay system has endured low dissolved oxygen concentrations, harmful algae blooms, loss of habitat, diminishing hard clam populations and other detrimental effects. Since 2004, eelgrass beds, which are home to crabs, fish and other wildlife, have continually declined, to a low point in 2010.
Kennish said many things need to be done including improving storm water control systems, preserving open space, limiting fertilizer runoff and planning development so it has less impact on the waterways.
New Jersey has taken steps to limit pollutants in the bay, still a popular spot for fishing and recreational boating, but environmentalists say they fall far short of what is needed.

"This report is an alarm bell going off that Barnegat Bay will die unless strong programs are put in place to protect the bay," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club environmental group.
He and other environmentalists want New Jersey to declare that the bay has reached a fragile enough condition that warrants placing a daily limit on how much pollution can be allowed to enter the waterway. Republican Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have imposed such a requirement.
Tittel said that when Christie vetoed the bill "he killed a real chance to clean up the bay."
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak noted that Tittel was among those applauding protections the governor put into place two years ago for the bay, including the early closure of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station and the adoption of the nation's strictest limits on nitrogen content in fertilizer.
"Tittel is an overwrought fear-mongerer," Drewniak said. "He's even forgotten his own unqualified praise of the governor on Barnegat Bay protections enacted by this administration. This contradiction from Tittel would be hilarious if not so ignorant and irresponsible."

He said the improvements included in the governor's 10-point plan to help Barnegat Bay were enacted in January 2011, at the end of the two-decade period covered by the Rutgers study.

"We are committed to the health and recovery of Barnegat Bay," Drewniak said.
Land on the edge of and near Barnegat Bay has undergone tremendous residential and commercial development in recent decades. Where there once were wooded areas or grassy shorelines, there now are freshly manicured lawns where nitrogen-laden fertilizer washes into the bay. There are paved driveways and parking lots that rush storm water runoff into the water, along with multiple pollutants it picks up along the way.

One result of the pollution has been an explosion in the population of jellyfish in the bay, rendering large parts of it unfit for swimming for area residents.

"You walk in, and they just cling to you," said Bill Neveil, of Middlesex Borough, who was crabbing with his grandson on a dock in Seaside Heights on Wednesday. "I got stung a lot. Then no one wanted to go in the water."

[BigAl13]

Ive been reading about this for 2 or 3 years now and they know the problem and have solutions why they wont do it is beyond me

[IKAT]

Ive been reading about this for 2 or 3 years now and they know the problem and have solutions why they wont do it is beyond me

Al I agree!!  The fact of the matter is the damage has been done!!!!!  Even with the "PLANS" being put in place to clean it up--I am afraid --MAYBE-MAYBE--my great grandchildren may see it like I did in the 60'S--For me it is lost-and I remember standing in 4 foot of water-and seeing my feet-- clamming to pay for gas for the boat--It was too nice to just let what happened to it go.

End of small rant   

[DJ76]

i own a landscape busines in hunterdon county.  along with all the other regulatory BS that this state has, starting in 2012 anyone applying fertilizer "for hire" in NJ is required to obtain a fertilizer license.  Granted the license is a joke to obtain (online BS) but it discusses in the training the adverse effect of phosphorous and nitrogen in our fresh and salt waters here in the state.  Therefore, the state IS in fact attempting to do something about this issue.  Currently there is a ban on applying a single percentage of phosphoruous in the state of NJ.  there are occasions where you can apply it but soil tests must be done to prove its required.  they also now make it illegal to apply within so many feet of water runoffs, drainage ditches, etc. etc.  they have also limited the amount of 100% soluable nitrogen you can apply during (a) a single applicatcation and (b)  total season long applications.  In addition, they have now placed restrcitions on when you can apply the fertilizer.  Its different for commercial applicators vs residential applications (you the resident).


No herein lies the problem.  how many of you actually knew about the ban of P in NJ, or the amount of N that can be applied at one time or any other of these laws? I'd say the majority of homewoners have no clue. (i'm not pointing fingers here  )  Therefore, the state is attempting to do something but they arent policing and/or enforcing it.  As a homeowner you can run down to the local big box store grab your scotss dial in your setting and away you go with no idea of how much N P K you are actually applying AND whether or not you even need it!

its just getting harder and harder to operate your own business in this state

[IKAT]

i own a landscape busines in hunterdon county.  along with all the other regulatory BS that this state has, starting in 2012 anyone applying fertilizer "for hire" in NJ is required to obtain a fertilizer license.  Granted the license is a joke to obtain (online BS) but it discusses in the training the adverse effect of phosphorous and nitrogen in our fresh and salt waters here in the state.  Therefore, the state IS in fact attempting to do something about this issue.  Currently there is a ban on applying a single percentage of phosphoruous in the state of NJ.  there are occasions where you can apply it but soil tests must be done to prove its required.  they also now make it illegal to apply within so many feet of water runoffs, drainage ditches, etc. etc.  they have also limited the amount of 100% soluable nitrogen you can apply during (a) a single applicatcation and (b)  total season long applications.  In addition, they have now placed restrcitions on when you can apply the fertilizer.  Its different for commercial applicators vs residential applications (you the resident).


No herein lies the problem.  how many of you actually knew about the ban of P in NJ, or the amount of N that can be applied at one time or any other of these laws? I'd say the majority of homewoners have no clue. (i'm not pointing fingers here  )  Therefore, the state is attempting to do something but they arent policing and/or enforcing it.  As a homeowner you can run down to the local big box store grab your scotss dial in your setting and away you go with no idea of how much N P K you are actually applying AND whether or not you even need it!

its just getting harder and harder to operate your own business in this state

Great post D-----But (And without pointing fingers either)--how many of the people that moved to NJ-in the passed 30 years-- that lived on the Big Pavement-And just want grass-will ever listen--OR understand  ??

[kayak1]

Great Post...... The other problem is those who are running the save the bay program and doing all the talking have not lived around the bay or seen what has changed through the years.....

Most people have no clue as to what they are even talking about....... They hear something and go along with what they hear.

Back in the 50's & 60's the  incoming tide would flood the back bay with fresh ocean water twice a day and the current would be strong from both the Manasquan and Barnegate Inlets.

The 70's & 80's building of homes started to pick up in Ocean county and we had less grass areas to hold back run off......But then the state felt that with all the building and more people living around the bay that the water flow was much to high and flooding of the back bay was a bad thing..

The area of A-21 in Island beach State Park in the 70's & 80's was loaded with fish, crabs, clams and a list of others..... The state wanted to protect this area and installed a sand sock that runs the entire North side of the Barnegate Inlet....... This is a sock like tube filled with sand to hold back the water from flooding the area.....

Well now that we don't have any more fresh ocean water.....which just happens to be the best filter system the bay could have had...... The end result is water that does not move and heats up faster and will cause health problems in the water system.....Its like a fish pond in your back yard move the water and it keeps the fish and plants healthy....... take away the filter and your left with an unhealthy pond.

No one wants to fix what we broke.......Lets just push the blame.......Give us back what we had.... and don't mess with mother nature.

we changed the the landscape and the pond to work for us.....But we never thought about who lived in those waters.....

 Sorry just had to speak my mind......
 Kayak-1

[BigAl13]

All valid points guys, as a homeowner who lives close to the bay (raritan) I want my grass to be green and do not know what the limits are but i do know that putting a picture of a sea nettle on the front page of the press and  at what has already happened will not fix the problem. Great that the state has imposed laws(ways to get more money from us) to help this issue it has done nothing to revive barney. Kat your right youll never see it back to the way it was or I(29) will not either  :'(but we both can be here to see it not get worse. They knew about this long before Rutgers started studying this, just turned there heads. Now that it has been publicized its the old dog and pony show.

[DJ76]

Great post D-----But (And without pointing fingers either)--how many of the people that moved to NJ-in the passed 30 years-- that lived on the Big Pavement-And just want grass-will ever listen--OR understand  ??

you are 110% correct what i believe your assumptions are.  no one knows and worse SOME that do know simply don't give two turds 

but here is where the state can actually do something.  make it known, start advertising and educating the public on this.  i believe if people start learning about how they can help, the majority will.

[FishOn]

I still remember the first nettle I ever saw. Wouldn't have believed it if it didn't sting me.

Some other things I also remember (and miss) about BB:
-Weakfish
-Soaking a crab trap over night in the lagoons and pulling it up the next morning loaded with lively healthy crabs. Now they just die in the pots due to warm oxygen poor water (in the lagoons at least)
- filling killie pots in an hour with a single piece of bread
-catching juvi fluke, flounder, blues, weaks, bass, white perch, spot, needlefish, blowfish, sally growlers, sea bass and even tog in the lagoons after or before school.
-catching grass shrimp by the pound for weakfish chum
-swimming without getting stung
-snorkeling eel grass beds with 6 feet of visibility in the area that is now being engulfed by the ever expanding Tices shoal. Jet skis, boat props and boat anchors have just about killed that are ( in addition to water quality issues)
-catching terrapins just to look at them before sending them on their way

That's all gone in the area i grew up in (bayville). It's a real shame

[IKAT]

Great post D-----But (And without pointing fingers either)--how many of the people that moved to NJ-in the passed 30 years-- that lived on the Big Pavement-And just want grass-will ever listen--OR understand  ??

you are 110% correct what i believe your assumptions are.  no one knows and worse SOME that do know simply don't give two turds  

but here is where the state can actually do something.  make it known, start advertising and educating the public on this.  i believe if people start learning about how they can help, the majority will.

D--That is the problem/Question--"The Majority"--And I know YOU see it--I WANT--I WANT-NOT-"WE" NEED-"WE"-NEED.

TO DO--This or that.

Go Ahead=ASK-Everyone---WHAT HAVE "YOU" DONE?



PS--FISHON--I commend you for your post --But at 28 --I would guess 1984--at 8 years old you could not discribe what some of us have seen.

[Reckless]

 The bay takes to long to cycle the water. More flow would help with some of these issues.

[FishOn]

IKAT, i know what you are saying but I have been well aware of how quickly BB has declined. Let me say this though, if you ever want to find out what's biting, ask a local kid who fishes every day.  We would ride our bikes to Berkeley island, catch some snappers live line them out and pull them back in with 10 to 15lb weakfish attached. We would stalk the marshes at night with flash lights and load up crabs. Hell at 10 we were kayak fishing before kayak fishing was the thing to do. Just saying I put my time in in that area, still do.