Shellfish Working Group

The Barnegat Bay Partnership’s (BBP) Shellfish Working Group (SWG) is a standing committee formed in May 2014 under the purview of the BBP Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) as set forth in the STAC charter document. The initial SWG charge was to review the conclusions and recommendations of the BBP sponsored white paper “Status and Trends of Hard Clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, Shellfish Populations in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey” by Bricelj et al. (2012), and develop short, medium, and long term research, rehabilitation, and policy recommendations that the BBP, and its partners, could pursue as part of an overall shellfish restoration program (including, but not limited to hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), and bay scallop (Argopecten irradians)) within Barnegat Bay.

The composition of the working group was purposely designed to include representation from a variety of stakeholders, including resource managers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), researchers, and the shellfish industry, in order to capture the breadth of experience and opinions present within the shellfish community. It was hoped that the diversity of organizations participating in the SWG would lead to potentially novel approaches to difficult problems and to new partnerships that otherwise may not have formed.

Name Affiliation
Dr. Jim Vasslides – Co-Chair Barnegat Bay Partnership
Kristin Adams – Co-Chair Ocean County Soil Conservation District
Russ Babb NJDEP Bureau of Shellfisheries
Jeff Normant NJDEP Bureau of Shellfisheries
Scott Stueber NJDEP Bureau of Shellfisheries
Dale Parsons Jr. Parsons Seafood
Dr. Daphne Munroe Rutgers Univ – Haskins Shellfish Research Lab
Dr. Doug Zemeckis Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Dr. Amanda Wenczel NJ Department of Agriculture
Steve Evert Stockton University
Dr. Christine Thompson Stockton University
Zack Greenberg Pew Trusts
Matt Gregg Barnegat Oyster Collective/40North Oyster Farm
Barbara Spinweber US EPA Region 2
Bill Walsh ReClam the Bay
Angela Andersen Long Beach Township

UNKNOWN

There is limited data available to quantify Wetland and Riparian Buffer Preservation, or updated data to quantify Wetland Acreage. The BBP has obtained funding and will begin assessment efforts for both targets, in the next few years.

 

 Hard Clam abundance has not been updated since 2012. Recovery of the stock will be guided by the Fishery Management Plan for Hard Clams, which is under development with the NJDEP, BBP, and other organizations. Reclam the Bay and other partners have continued to plant clams for restoration purposes. Continued plantings in strategic locations which maximize survival and reproduction is one strategy to pursue in the coming years. This work can use a model developed by Rutgers with BBP funding which identified areas where planted clams could have the greatest dispersal of their larvae and thus potentially maximally contribute to the recovery of the stock.

 Water Withdrawals were over the target in the 2021 report; USGS has not yet completed its latest update, so a definitive determination of status is not available. However, additional NJDEP data show that it is likely that we continue to not meet the target. Per capita water use has gone down, demonstrating the effectiveness of water-saving appliances and practices, but that decrease has been offset by population gains. 


IN PROGRESS

New maps quantifying Submerged Aquatic Vegetation extent were developed, but poor image clarity resulted in a high degree of uncertainty in the total acreage. NJDEP and Rutgers are working to resolve the uncertainty of these maps, and improve the total acreage estimate. Funding has also been obtained for further research and restoration activities. Several groups are developing potential restoration actions.

The USGS has completed the first phase of its study to identify minimum ecological flows in select Barnegat Bay tributaries. USGS scientists compared streamflow statistics between historical and current time periods to better understand trends in watershed flow conditions. This work provides a foundation for developing ecological flow targets in the Barnegat Bay watershed.  Similar to SAV extent, funding (approximately $450K) has been obtained by the BBP to complete the remaining phases necessary for threshold determination.

 

TARGETS ACHIEVED

No targets can be considered “Achieved” at this time.

 

NOT ACHIEVING

Several Public Swimming Beaches exceeded their safe swimming standards more frequently than during their baseline time period (2016-2018).

While most beaches are routinely safe for swimming, several problematic areas such as Beachwood, Hancock, Windward, and several lake beaches need track-down studies and restoration to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

Acres of Approved Shellfish Waters decreased from the last report. While this decrease was small, it represents a loss of previously approved waters. Similar to public beaches, track-down studies and restoration work are needed to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.