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NJ Coastal & Ocean Protection Council Bill Moves to Governor's Desk       
Atlantic Herald 
Tuesday, 08 January 2008 
Assembly Passes Measure To Protect New Jersey Ocean Waters and Wildlife   

Trenton, NJ (January 7, 2008)- The Assembly today passed A. 4332, which would establish a New Jersey Coastal and Ocean Protection Council to help safeguard the state's valuable and unique coastal and ocean resources. The Senate passed an identical version of this bill - S. 2645 (SCS) - by an overwhelming majority on December 10th and the environmental community now strongly urges Governor Corzine to sign the bill.

"The Jersey coast is central to the state's identity, and this new Council will advance the State's ability to protect and restore the natural systems that we rely on for food, recreation and jobs," said Benson Chiles of Environmental Defense and the Coastal Ocean Coalition, a network of state and national environmental organizations working to revitalize the nation's most critical marine areas. "When signed into law, New Jersey will be in good company of those states taking pro-active measures to strengthen policies that protect coastal and ocean resources, such as New York and California."

The nine-member NJ Coastal and Ocean Protection Council would consist of agency staff and members of the public dedicated to preventing marine resources depletion through adopting ecosystem-based management (EBM) approaches. EBM moves beyond traditional species-by-species, problem-by-problem management approaches to take account of factors such as food web interactions and the availability of suitable habitat like submerged aquatic vegetation to sustain ocean life.

"New Jersey residents depend on the ocean and coasts for food, recreation, and jobs, but the world's oceans are in a state of silent collapse - and New Jersey is not immune to this devastation," said Sarah Chasis, Ocean Initiative Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "A Coastal and Ocean Protection Council would help coordinate the state's efforts to restore our coastal and ocean systems, and establish New Jersey as a leading state in marine resources policy."  

New Jersey's coastal and ocean waters and wetlands are home to 1.5 million migratory shorebirds and more than 50 different species of finfish and shellfish. Annually, the Jersey shore generates more than $16 billion from tourism and in 2006, commercial fishing industries in New Jersey landed more than 152 million pounds of fish and shellfish, worth nearly $143 million. However, pollution, destruction of productive marine habitat, over-development, and increased strain on fish stocks are endangering the health of New Jersey's ocean and bay systems: 97 percent of New Jersey's tidal rivers and 24 percent of its bays are restricted for shellfish harvesting because of bacterial pollution; the Jersey shore experienced more than 130 days of beach closings and advisories due to pollution in 2006; urban build out has now impacted a full third of Barnegat Bay's estuary system; and a third of New Jersey's most important commercial and recreational saltwater fish and shellfish are depleted or are being overfished.

"We thank Assemblyman McKeon for his leadership in sponsoring this bill, and Senators Karcher and Smith for their leadership on the Senate bill. The bill is an important response to the shore's plea for help," said Mike Pisauro of the New Jersey Environmental Lobby. "We are eager for the Governor to sign this bill as soon as possible so that the Council get to work."  

"This bill signals a new era for New Jersey's policies on coastal and ocean protection," said Joanna Wolaver of New Jersey Audubon Society.  "When coastal and ocean ecosystems are managed by the State as a whole, instead of in a piece-meal fashion, they should be better protected and more healthy."  

"Last summer we witnessed brown tides and significant garbage slicks, which were visual clues that business as usual isn't working," said John Weber of Surfrider Foundation. "This new Council will focus attention on understanding better the linkages between our actions on land and what's happening under the waves."  

"Ecosystem based management and the new Council will strengthen the linkages between science, standards, monitoring, and management and greatly improve New Jersey's current policies and practices" said Bill Wolfe, Director, NJ PEER.  

"Last summer's brown tides, sewage spills, and dissolved oxygen issues are all indicators that there's a problem," said Jeff Tittel of NJ Sierra Club.  "They are the canary in the coal mine, and the canary is in a coma."

"Notwithstanding the environmental and economic jewel that the Jersey Shore is, ocean policy in New Jersey is too often forgotten, taken for granted, sporadic and not holistic," said David Pringle of New Jersey Environmental Federation. "This Council can begin to correct a fault that didn't start with this Administration but can end with it."

The actions called for in the bill implement key recommendations recently made by a pair of national ocean commissions - the congressionally-established U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the independent Pew Ocean Commission of scientists and other leaders from fisheries, business, and government. Both commissions urged immediate action by government to save our oceans, and laid out blueprints to help protect and restore marine life. 
 

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