May 29, 2013 — New Jersey, like many other coastal states, has never considered adopting what several marine conservation groups call the most effective tool to aid coastal ocean habitat – “no-take” protected areas that prohibit fishing and other activity, such as exploratory drilling, in the designated zones.
The controversial strategy has been used by only three coastal states to set at least 1 percent of their coastal waters off limits to fishing. Hawaii leads the way with 23 percent of its ocean covered by a no-take policy, followed by California at 9 percent and Florida at 1 percent.
“Despite a multitude of threats to their health, U.S. states are failing to adequately protect their coastal and ocean waters,” said Lance Morgan, president of the Marine Conservation Institute, which surveyed the states’ use of no-take zones in a report it released Wednesday. “No-take marine protected areas are the gold standard for helping oceans thrive, but the SeaStates report shows that far too few states and territories are using this critical tool.”
If pursued in New Jersey, such a strategy could have significant impacts on the state’s robust commercial and recreational fishing industries, industry advocates say. While New Jersey and federal fishery management agencies already have a multitude of regulations in place that restrict fishing, including when and how much to catch and which type of gear can be used, no-take zones are particularly contentious because they prohibit any kind of fishing throughout the year, limiting access to fishable waters by commercial and recreational fishermen.
“There are already a lot of areas where we are limited through regulations on gear or what season we can fish in,” said Nils Stolpe, communications director for the Garden State Seafood Association.
New Jersey’s seafood industry generated total sales of $6.6 billion in 2011, fifth highest among all 23 coastal states, and supported more than 43,000 jobs that year, according to federal data.
New Jersey generated $214 million alone in fish landings, ranking seventh. The bulk of that came from shellfish, particularly sea scallops. New Jersey ranked fourth in recreational fishing revenue, generating $1.7 billion.
Read the full story at the Bergen County Record