Contact Barnegat Bay Partnership

Contact Details

Whether you’re interested in our programs, research, or how you can get involved, our team is ready to connect with you and provide the information you need.

Have questions or want to learn more about Barnegat Bay? Reach out to us!

Address

Ocean County College,
1 College Drive,
Toms River, NJ, 08754
Stream crossing
Whitetail deer buckbbpvmn volunteer master naturalist

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Frequently Asked Questions

Have Additional Questions?

If your concerns or questions aren't covered here, you can find more details in the training manual.
Need further assistance? Feel free to reach out to us via email!
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I participated last year, do I still need to go through the training this year?

Yes. You need to watch the Virtual Training Video. This will help give you a refresher of the Paddle for the Edge program. After watching the video, you will need to complete and submit a Knowledge Check. You must submit a Knowledge Check to receive a paddling assignment.

I don’t have a smart phone, can I still participate?

Unfortunately, if you do not have a smart phone or access to a smart phone, it will be impossible for you to complete the survey. The ArcGIS Field Maps app developed for our project, stores the data safely all in one place. It is how we get the most accurate GPS reading of where you are taking your points, and it keeps all the photo records together with the data you collect.

What if I don’t have my own kayak?

This is just placeholder text. Don’t be alarmed, this is just here to fill up space since your finalized copy isn’t ready yet. Once we have your content finalized, we’ll replace this placeholder text with your real content.

I’m confused about the dates, when do I have to go out?

At any time during the collection time period, you may go out and collect data points. You may go out more than once, after work, on the weekends, or whenever you have free time to enjoy paddling. There is no required day, as long as your section of shoreline is complete by the end date. The P4E survey occurs in the summer, usually during the month of July. The 2024 survey window in Saturday June 29th to Sunday July 28th.

I can’t transport my kayak, do I get to choose where I kayak?

We understand if you don’t have the means to transport your kayak across the watershed. Please designate your requested area in the registration form. We will make every effort to assign you to an area near where you request. However, please have an open mind, it will take a lot of paddling to survey the entire bay! Lots of our volunteers last year were excited to discover new places to kayak!

Where to Find Us

Forked River/Silver Cloud Marina

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.