New Jersey bays have always provided us with game fish and shellfish but now they need our help...
by Bob Misak
Good Ol' Barnegat Bay
In central New Jersey, residents and anglers alike have lived near, visited, fished or certainly heard of the Barnegat Bay. I have lived along the bay's western shoreline for my entire life, and have never left the area. As a child I crabbed and fished for snappers and eels in the lagoons and such, and not a summer day went by when I wouldn't be on that bay, looking for fish, clamming or whatever, rain or shine. I remember treading clams, a method of getting in the water and using your feet, and I would play with the seahorses, my dad a hundred yards away yelling me to "get digging". When winter came, I had school, which seemed an annoyance as my dad was still on the bay clamming, duck hunting and flounder fishing. I did my winter time on the bay, but it was limited to weekends and after school. Back then things were different; there were bay scallops in winter; lots of them, just washing up on the beaches in a northeast blow. My dad was an opportunist and as long as the law allowed, we would reap every benefit the bay had to offer. We ate scallops and clams in winter, ducks were part of the meals, and winter flounder could be caught by the dozen at will. "When I was a kid"; that saying has been used for what seems like a thousand years, and nothing is further from the truth..
The fall from grace...
As I am now much older than those days of riding my bicycle to driving a car and owning a boat, I, as well as other lifers on the bay, began to see changes take place on the bay. The clammers who fed their families off of the bay weren't catching 1000 clams a day anymore; the numbers were falling. 800 a day. 700, and then 600. Prices when I was 17 were about 2.8 cents per "little neck"; the bigger ones only paid 2 cents, or 20 dollars a thousand. No longer could guys make a living, or at least what they considered a living, anymore. Some went to catching crabs, some to catching bait; but the money just wasn't there. Baymen began to thin out; the eel grass that was so thick and so vital to seedling clams and seahorses and other young sea life began to disappear as well. The bay was getting into trouble, and few knew how much. The bigger problem was that it wasn't just Barnegat Bay, but there were problems all along our shorelines.
The "Saviors"
As years passed, a biologist named Pete McClain took to the task of publicizing Barnegat Bay's decline, and he devoted his entire life to it. Pete told folks and organizations of the bay's troubles, and some took it to heart. "Save Barnegat Bay" was formed, and together with organized groups like "Re-clam the Bay" and the "Recreational Fishing Alliance", they set out to take Mr. Pete's words to heart... if we don't act, there will a point of no return. Steps were taken to save the bay. One huge political move was closing the Ciba-Geigy pipeline back in the late 80's, which had been pumping toxins directly into the waters for many years, and sea life was declining as proven by biologists monitoring that area. There were grants given in the hundreds of thousands, and even millions, to devote to creating cleaner waters and thriving sea life in the bay; some money came, and then budget cuts and broken promises stalled the operation. Still, the folks who dedicated their time didn't give up. Jet ski laws were passed to keep props from tearing up eel grass, but warmer temperatures over the years, combined with minimal filtration into the bay was hampering efforts. Some began to wonder if the bays could ever come back.
Success within our grasp?
Today, folks like "Re-Clam the Bay", "Save Barnegat Bay", The "Recreational Fishing Alliance" and others, along with pioneers like Pete McClain, have come a long way in saving what is left of our bays and their inhabitants. There are other organizations out there who are doing great work preserving and restoring all of our New Jersey bays as well. Our lawmakers, along with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, consistently work by studying and adjusting regulations to assist. However, we still question if New Jersey bays will ever be full of clams again, if our fishing limits will be raised anytime soon and if the eel grass will ever come back. Well, I think we all know the answer to that question. It depends on all of us. These organizations rely on selfless volunteers who dedicate thousands of man hours to do their part to "reclaim" our bays. But they cannot succeed without more volunteers to help them in this important task. So FishinJersey.com is calling "All hands on deck!" to keep the restoration of our bays a priority. Starting this month, FishinJersey.com will be donating advertising space to these organizations and promoting their activities on our site. And even if you can't volunteer time to them, you can still help us return to the "Glory Days" on New Jersey bays. When boating and fishing on our bays, don't throw garbage, don't tear up the eel grass, and be respectful of the bay. And if you see others aren't being respectful, try to educate them to the importance of keeping our bay waters clean. Good luck and respect the bays.
