Atlantic Highlands Herald, Dec. 26, 2006
OP-ED: NEW JERSEY MUST HAVE A HEALTHY OCEAN IN 2007
By Joe Reynolds

It is late afternoon on the day before Christmas. I am walking near
the dunes of Spermacetti Cove at Sandy Hook. To my left, a setting sunin the western sky has created long layers of fine orangey cloudsdangling above a sea of red light. To my right, there is a row offlourishing cedar and holly trees with a tapestry of jade, emerald,and olive foliage. Close by, I see small flocks of Downy Woodpeckers,Tufted Titmice, and Yellow-rumped Warblers darting about the barebranches of sleeping deciduous trees.

It is the last week of December. A Christmas day rainstorm has ushered
in chilly temperatures and brisk winds to keep a coolness in the air,but it is not freezing. The range of mean temperatures over the JerseyShore this time of year extends from around 44 degrees in Atlantic City to the around 41 degrees at Sandy Hook. These temperatures,however, are warmer than when I was a teenager growing up along theJersey Shore. Many weather almanacs back in the late 80s declared themean December temperatures for the southern shore to be around 38 degrees and 35 degrees for the northern shore.

There is little doubt to me that global warming is the cause for this noticeable increase inthe statistical norm of winter temperatures along the Jersey Shore. Global warming and its increase is atmosphere and water temperatures,though, are just a few of the challenges facing our ocean waters, theearth's largest public domain.

I imagine most folks who live in the New York and New Jersey area have
a thoroughly landlocked perspective of their local environment. Folkshave both feet squarely on the ground (or perhaps on the sidewalk)with only a momentary look towards the ocean, usually during a fewweeks in the summer. Consequently, major threats to the Atlantic Ocean are at best acknowledged by people with little understanding,and at worst, simply ignored by a majority of people and politicians.

People's separation from the sea throughout their daily life has not only affected the way in which we confront the most challengingaspects affecting the ocean, but has also deeply affected the way inwhich we have not created a well-organized and clever policy toprotect, maintain, and restore our amazing and dynamic ocean.

Although New Jersey's official nickname is the "Garden State," we alsolive in a coastal state that has a rich seaworthy reputation and aninteresting maritime culture. Everywhere you look, there is water. New
Jersey has 454 square miles of open ocean waters, and more than 800square miles of tidal estuarine rivers, shallow back bays and largerbays (including Delaware Bay). The Atlantic Ocean coastline is 127miles long, while Raritan and Delaware bays have 87 miles of coast combined. New Jersey's waterways and wetlands are home to 1.5 million shorebirds and more than 50 different species of finfish andshellfish. There is no doubt that our coastal resources play a critical part in our state's economy, and remain a vital piece of our
heritage.

Yet, as we enter another year, it is more evident than everthat the ocean can no longer be taken for granted as a source of wealth, opportunity, and abundance. Evidence is mounting that ourocean is under increasing stress.
One of the greatest threats to our marine environment is nonpointsource pollution. Nonpoint pollution accounts for more than 60% of thewater quality problems in our state's waterways. Since we can't point a finger at the cause of this pollution, nonpoint pollution issometime called people pollution. An example of nonpoint sourcepollution is street litter, such as discarded plastic water bottles orcigarette butts that move about on our streets through wind, rain and melting snow to nearby storm drains that are unfiltered and then flowout into an adjacent waterway. Nonpoint source pollution can also include sand and sediment from construction sites, nutrients and pesticides from lawns and gardens, drips of oil from vehicles, and pet
waste that is not properly thrown away.

All this pollution adds upand has grown into a serious burden to maintain water quality thatpreserves an abundance of aquatic life, and good quality water forrecreational activities, the fishing industry, and our precious
tourism industry.

Another major threat to our ocean waters includes sprawling development. Pressure from people living too close to the water has led to the destruction of wetlands, which help to control floodwaters,filter out pollutants, and serve as nurseries for many species offish, shellfish, and birds.

Overdevelopment of the coast has also brought about fundamental damage to our watersheds or a waterway'sdrainage area from changing the landscape to one that was natural to one that is impervious and contains limited wildlife habitat.

Furthermore, overfishing from commercial and industrial fishing fleets are removing top predators from the ocean and changing the delicateand complex interactions that sustain ocean ecosystems and amazing
marine life. Off the coast of New England, cod fish were once so plentiful that people named an area of land after the fish. Today, the cod fish canhardly be found swimming near Cape Cod, and the fish has nearly become
commercially extinct because of overfishing. In addition, populations of popular fish, such as tuna, Menhaden, Yellowtail Flounder, haddock,and grouper have reached historic lows and have become symbols ofoverfishing.

More over, bycatch (unwanted marine creatures that are
caught in nets while fishing for another species) is jeopardizing thecontinued existence of thousands of sea birds, sea turtles, dolphins,and whales off the eastern U.S. seaboard. Worldwide, scientists estimate that fishermen discard about 25 percent of what they catch, about 60 billion pounds each year.

Other important threats to the long-term health of our oceans includeoff-shore development of oil and natural gas structures, oceandumping, raw sewage dumping from cruise ships, toxic chemical pollution, invasive species, aquaculture, and declining populations ofcertain species of whales, dolphins, and sea turtles due to hunting,habitat loss, and human-induced injuries.

The time is right in 2007 to devise innovative policy and ways to put an end to these threats. How skillful and swift we are in New Jersey to protecting our ocean will determine the future quality of life in this coastal state. We must make a pledge in New Jersey to do no more harm to the ocean and
its amazing marine life. We must place a premium on safeguarding our marine ecosystems and preserving coastal regions from unwanted and unplanned development. We must restore degraded marine ecosystems tobring back their natural function and productivity.

We must enact an ocean policy in New Jersey that provides clear and measurable goals. We need to implement ecosystem-based planning and increase bycatch monitoring and management to protect aquatic biodiversity and restore our fisheries.

We need to tackle coastal sprawl by protecting from development all coastal habitat (no matterthe size) and redirect government programs away from harmful coastal development and towards the restoration of our wetlands.

Moreover, we need to strengthen laws that deal with nonpoint source pollution on a watershed basis that establishes standards for nutrients and other pollutants.In order to make sure this policy is carried out, New Jersey needs to create an independent ocean council that will address the interest of our marine environment.

Without a doubt, New Jersey's politicians must go about protecting,restoring and rebuilding our fisheries, beaches, coastal habitats and marine waters in 2007 to ensure a healthy ocean for futuregenerations.

Of course, creating policy is never easy in New Jersey.If you wish to help save the ocean, then join the campaign of twoenvironmental organizations that are trying to do just that. First, make a pledge to protect our ocean at the Coastal Ocean Coalition website. Click on the take action button and send a message to politicians in Trenton that you care about the future of our ocean.

Then go to Clean Ocean Zone website and sign a petition in support
of Clean Ocean Zone in the New York & New Jersey region. The folks at Clean Ocean Action are working hard to create federal policy that will forever protect our local ocean waters from major threats.

Then go out and purchase a new paperback book entitled, "50 Ways toSave the Ocean," by David Helvarg. It is a wonderful book that provides to everyone wise and humorous information on how we can on a daily basis restore, preserve and ultimately respect our ocean.

Will 2007 be the year that people in New Jersey realize that the status quo of polluted beaches, collapsing fisheries, vanishing wetlands, the loss of marine biodiversity, and sprawling developmentis unacceptable?

Future generations will judge us on the decisions we make now.

Copyright 2006 Atlantic Highlands Herald

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