Fourteen months after shutting down its Keyport oyster restoration project, the NY/NJ Baykeeper program will be allowed to restart its Raritan Bay oysters inside the security zone around the pier at Earle Naval Weapons Station.
Initial plans call for deploying containers of juvenile oysters off the Navy’s 2.2-mile-long pier, in locations where ammunition and supply ships do not tie up, said Debbie Mans, executive director of the nonprofit Baykeeper group.
“They’re test cages with up to 250 very small oysters” obtained from hatcheries, explained Mans, whose group last spring won an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its work toward restoring harbor oysters.
Work will start in October. Eventually, up to 38 cages could be installed, to test whether the Earle location is suitable for growing oysters, Mans said.
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