02-15-2006, 04:05 PM
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]An oyster revitalization project in the Delaware Bay will receive $2 million from Congress through the FY2006 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. The money will be used for the continuation of a large-scale oyster shell planting and transplant program to rejuvenate the dwindling oyster populations of the Delaware River Estuary.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]This bi-state program, in Delaware and New Jersey waters, is a collaborative effort on the local, state, and federal levels that will benefit the environment, as well as the oyster industry. [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The request for the oyster revitalization project appropriation was initiated in the Senate by Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware), Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), and supported in the House of Representatives by Congressman Mike Castle (R-DE) and Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ). [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The FY 2006 funding will go to the US Army Corps of Engineers to administer the project, which is being implemented by Rutgers University’s Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, the Delaware River Basin Commission, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and the Delaware River and Bay Authority. The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is responsible for the education and outreach components of the project. [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]“On behalf of all of the organizations involved in this effort, we would like to thank the members of Congress who worked tirelessly to secure funds to help restore the Delaware Bay’s oyster population,” said Kathy Klein, executive director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. “Oysters play an important role our ecosystem by filtering large quantities of water and supplying food for many other species, including humans. Their shells provide homes for still other species.”[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]“Restoring oyster populations and helping them grow to marketable size will give a major boost to the oyster industry,” Klein added. “It will help restore the economies of many communities along both sides of the Delaware River who have a long history of depending on the oyster.”[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The revitalization project was initially funded in 2005 with a total of $750,000 from Congress, the Cumberland Empowerment Zone Corporation, the states of New Jersey and Delaware, the Delaware River and Bay Authority and the oyster industries from both states. In July, 280,000 bushels of shells were planted to begin the restoration of natural beds in New Jersey and Delaware, where the abundance of oysters had declined. Those beds are being monitored for the success of the planting effort, with a report of results expected in February 2006.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The $2 million will be used to continue current work and expand the shell planting and transplant program to additional beds in Delaware and New Jersey waters. [/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Background Summary:[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Oysters have provided a sustainable food supply and contributed to the local economy of Delaware and New Jersey communities for centuries. One to two million bushels were harvested every year through the 1930s, when they began to decline. The introduction of the oyster disease MSX in the 1950’s, followed in the 1990’s by a second disease, Dermo, has resulted in a significant decline in the oyster population and, as a consequence, imperiled the industry. The oyster industry rebounded somewhat by 2000 due to the combined efforts of both states and the industry, producing nearly 100,000 bushels per year. However, today the oyster population is feeling the effects of five years of below-average biological recruitment (i.e., the number of young oysters entering the population each year) for unknown reasons. The oyster revitalization project involves the planting of clean surf clam shells on oyster beds to provide the uncontaminated surface that oyster larvae seek to attach to after floating in the water. Once larvae are recruited or attached, the shells can remain in those beds until the oysters reach maturity or some can also be transplanted to other beds in disease-free areas to revitalize them. Over time, the shell planting and transplant program could increase production to approximately 200,000 to 400,000 bushels per year, with a possible economic impact of up to $60 million between the two states. [/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For a short history of oysters in the Delaware Bay, information on the life cycle of oysters, other oyster facts, and a description of the revitalization project, please consult the Spring 2005 issue of Estuary News, available at www.delawareestuary.org.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For more information on the oyster restoration program, please contact Eric Powell at Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at 856-785-0074, extension 4300.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]This bi-state program, in Delaware and New Jersey waters, is a collaborative effort on the local, state, and federal levels that will benefit the environment, as well as the oyster industry. [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The request for the oyster revitalization project appropriation was initiated in the Senate by Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware), Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), and supported in the House of Representatives by Congressman Mike Castle (R-DE) and Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ). [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The FY 2006 funding will go to the US Army Corps of Engineers to administer the project, which is being implemented by Rutgers University’s Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, the Delaware River Basin Commission, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and the Delaware River and Bay Authority. The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is responsible for the education and outreach components of the project. [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]“On behalf of all of the organizations involved in this effort, we would like to thank the members of Congress who worked tirelessly to secure funds to help restore the Delaware Bay’s oyster population,” said Kathy Klein, executive director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. “Oysters play an important role our ecosystem by filtering large quantities of water and supplying food for many other species, including humans. Their shells provide homes for still other species.”[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]“Restoring oyster populations and helping them grow to marketable size will give a major boost to the oyster industry,” Klein added. “It will help restore the economies of many communities along both sides of the Delaware River who have a long history of depending on the oyster.”[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The revitalization project was initially funded in 2005 with a total of $750,000 from Congress, the Cumberland Empowerment Zone Corporation, the states of New Jersey and Delaware, the Delaware River and Bay Authority and the oyster industries from both states. In July, 280,000 bushels of shells were planted to begin the restoration of natural beds in New Jersey and Delaware, where the abundance of oysters had declined. Those beds are being monitored for the success of the planting effort, with a report of results expected in February 2006.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The $2 million will be used to continue current work and expand the shell planting and transplant program to additional beds in Delaware and New Jersey waters. [/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Background Summary:[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Oysters have provided a sustainable food supply and contributed to the local economy of Delaware and New Jersey communities for centuries. One to two million bushels were harvested every year through the 1930s, when they began to decline. The introduction of the oyster disease MSX in the 1950’s, followed in the 1990’s by a second disease, Dermo, has resulted in a significant decline in the oyster population and, as a consequence, imperiled the industry. The oyster industry rebounded somewhat by 2000 due to the combined efforts of both states and the industry, producing nearly 100,000 bushels per year. However, today the oyster population is feeling the effects of five years of below-average biological recruitment (i.e., the number of young oysters entering the population each year) for unknown reasons. The oyster revitalization project involves the planting of clean surf clam shells on oyster beds to provide the uncontaminated surface that oyster larvae seek to attach to after floating in the water. Once larvae are recruited or attached, the shells can remain in those beds until the oysters reach maturity or some can also be transplanted to other beds in disease-free areas to revitalize them. Over time, the shell planting and transplant program could increase production to approximately 200,000 to 400,000 bushels per year, with a possible economic impact of up to $60 million between the two states. [/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For a short history of oysters in the Delaware Bay, information on the life cycle of oysters, other oyster facts, and a description of the revitalization project, please consult the Spring 2005 issue of Estuary News, available at www.delawareestuary.org.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For more information on the oyster restoration program, please contact Eric Powell at Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at 856-785-0074, extension 4300.[/size][/font]