May 17, 2019 — The fear of poachers stealing oysters from polluted waters and making consumers sick has long thwarted efforts to grow them in New Jersey and use their natural ability to filter and improve water quality.
A proposed remedy could actually make matters even worse by removing state oversight and potentially causing the very illnesses regulators have long feared, some say.
The bill pending in the state Legislature would allow oyster colonies to be planted in polluted waters for research, water quality improvement or shoreline stabilization purposes. It also would block the state Department of Environmental Protection from regulating the patches, which even the most ardent supporters in the environmental community agree would be going too far.
“We’re throwing the baby out with the clam broth,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
A state Senate committee was supposed to consider the bill Thursday, but after hearing criticism from both sides, lawmakers agreed to table it for amendments.
No DEP official spoke during the hearing. The department said it would issue a statement later in the day.