A state ban on the cultivation of oyster beds in the Keyport Harbor would be lifted under a bill working its way through the state Legislature. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Passaic/Bergen), would permit the NY/NJ Baykeeper’s Eastern Oyster Reintroduction Feasibility Study to return to Keyport Harbor. The project was halted in 2010 when the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) banned the cultivation of commercial shellfish in contaminated waters… According to Dr. Beth Ravit, co-director of Rutgers University’s Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability and a researcher working on the oyster study, the goal of the project is to better understand the conditions in which oysters could flourish and then promote population growth in areas exhibiting those conditions. Ravit said the Eastern oyster provides several ecological benefits, including the ability to individually filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, as well as their propensity to fuse their shells together to create an “oyster reef.”
Fisheries/Aquaculture
Climate Change Captured Through Documentary
Director Dena Seidel is an award winning documentary filmmaker, published short story author, as well as the creator and designer of the first film major at Rutgers University. Here, she talks about her feature-length documentary film, Antarctic Edge: …
Ocean Bacteria Get “Pumped Up”
The ocean has been sucking up heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) building up in our atmosphere–with a little help from tiny plankton. Like plants on land, these plankton convert CO2 into organic carbon via photosynthesis. But unlike land plants that are held fast to terra firma, plankton can sink into the deep ocean, carrying carbon with them. Along the way they decompose when bacteria convert their remains back into CO2… Edwards, her advisor, WHOI scientist Ben Van Mooy, and co-author Kay Bidle from Rutgers University went to sea to collect and analyze particle samples from several locations across the North Atlantic, including the Sargasso Sea, the subarctic North Atlantic near Iceland, and the western North Atlantic near Massachusetts. The spatial coverage was important, Van Mooy said… “We typically think of temperature and other physiochemical factors as being critically important in determining the bacterial processing of diatom detritus and how deep it sinks in the ocean, but this work shows that the molecular composition of ‘infochemicals’ really matters,” said Bidle.
New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center Plays Important Role in Oyster Industry [VIDEO]
Oysters are a popular dinner choice near the shore. But before they end up on your plate, and in your stomach, they’re spawned at the New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May… “Most of the oysters, local oysters that you would buy at a restaurant at any of the Delaware Bay counties, primarily were spawned and started in this facility,” said Sean Towers, of Rutgers NJ Aquaculture Innovation Center… The Center, powered by Rutgers University, does more than selling oysters to local farmers. They’re putting an oyster blueprint together, so others can follow… Right now, the emphasis, is oysters. And algae, the oysters’ diet. But once the oyster blueprint is complete, the focus can shift elsewhere.
Ocean Bacteria Get ‘Pumped Up’ by Dying Phytoplankton
The ocean has been sucking up heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) building up in our atmosphere–with a little help from tiny plankton. Like plants on land, these plankton convert CO2 into organic carbon via photosynthesis. But unlike land plants that a…
Climate Change Affecting High-Altitude Regions at Faster Rate
Global warming is occurring at an accelerated pace in many high-altitude regions around the world and among the consequences could be water shortages, according to a new study co-authored by Rutgers climate scientist Jim Miller. A professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Miller collaborated with an international team of scientists on a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The researchers say evidence is showing that global warming often occurs more rapidly in high mountains and that further study is needed to fully grasp the true impact of the phenomenon… “Water is going to be a major problem over the next few decades anyway and climate change is going to exacerbate it,” Miller said. “Who gets the water? Are you going to use the water to grow crops or are you going to use the water to fill swimming pools in LA? Those are ultimately social and political decisions. With climate change, those changes could be more dramatic.”
Business Partnership Joins Sustainable Raritan Collaboration
At the recent meeting of the Board of Directors, the Somerset County Business Partnership (SCBP) unanimously approved a resolution to support the Sustainable Raritan River Initiative (SRRI) and become a Collaborative Member… The Sustainable Raritan R…
New York Today: Spring, Undersea
A hidden, high-stakes drama is unfolding beneath the surface of the Hudson River. The city’s fragile oyster population is coming out of hibernation. Concealed beneath a thick sheet of ice in winter, they clasped shut and went dormant… Now, ensconced in metal cages that naturalists are using to restore the city’s once-rich oyster beds, they are yawning back open- those that survived, that is… “We have to get out and start pulling up the cages and see how many are living,” says Beth Ravit, an environmental scientist at Rutgers University… Scientists like Dr. Ravit looking to the oysters for their ability to filter out pollutants and possibly to help prevent flooding. But oysters are sensitive. And microscopic morsels like phytoplankton, which oysters find tasty, die off in dark winter waters. That left oysters starved during the colder months, victims of the seasons’ ruthless cycle… “It’s all about who eats who,” Dr. Ravit said… Dr. Ravit and her collaborators from NY/NJ Baykeeper started with 250,000 oysters in Raritan Bay. In the coming weeks, they will find out how many remain.
Ocean Conservancy: How to Protect Marine Species [AUDIO]
The ocean is at risk for losing many of its species if we don’t do something quickly. Pressures from over-fishing, acidification, warming waters, and ocean industrialization are pushing many ocean plants and animals toward extinction. Today we’ll talk …
In Search of the World’s Biggest Fish
For more than a decade, researcher Zeb Hogan has spent much of his time traveling around the world on a singular mission: to find and learn more about the world’s largest freshwater fish. Through his photographs and a show he hosts on Nat Geo Wild called “Monster Fish,” he’s helped many people discover and appreciate these beasts… The highlights of his research on the conservation status and accurate size of various fish are being presented beginning March 25 at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., an exhibition Hogan describes as a “one-stop-shop for everything megafish.”… Olaf Jensen, fish ecologist at Rutgers University, says that the exhibit is “great stuff, Zeb has done a fantastic job of bringing the conservation challenges regarding big fish to a public audience.” Jensen has collaborated with Hogan to study the world’s largest trout, known as a the taimen, in Mongolia. They have found that these species require large stretches of river to survive, and that there is a growing number of people catching and releasing the animal… These fishermen must buy permits from the government, money which goes to conservation efforts. While overfishing can harm animals, and has in the past in many areas, well-regulated catch-and-release fishing can be beneficial, since it can help prevent development and damming of river areas, Jensen adds.
