Oysters in Raritan Bay

[Gerry Zagorski]

Great to have Oysters back in our waters...
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/12/raritan_bay_oyster_reef_has_started_reproducing_na .html

At one time the Great Beds area in South Amboy was one of the largest Oyster beds in the east coast...

[torchee]

This is a worthy goal, and it would be nice to see funding.

The hudson river needs them back as well.

[1captainron]

Pretty sure IFF had something to do with the Oysters going extinct.....:rolleyes:

[frugalfisherman]

When can we start eating them?

[bulletbob]

I don't think they were ever completely gone really... I lived a few years in Union Beach in the early 80's and I remember there being oysters around when I used to dig for bait, or when walking around the exposed tidal zone during dead low tides... No big beds anywhere, but there were oysters of one type or another... bob

[bbfisherman]

They do not want people to eat or harvest the oysters in Raritan Bay. That was and is the major stumbling block. They are there to clean up the water and maybe protect against storm surge.

[jmurr711]

togs in the Chesapeake taste better than our local togs from eating the oysters in the bay, now if the tog ever appear around here again they'll taste even better

[Gerry Zagorski]

Yep - You are what you eat and if those fish are eating fresh oysters the are going to be tasty... I loves me some oysters.

[NoLimit]

They do not want people to eat or harvest the oysters in Raritan Bay. That was and is the major stumbling block. They are there to clean up the water and maybe protect against storm surge.

Can someone explain how oysters are going to have any appreciable effect on major storm swells? I dont see that happening. Also, like anything else, there are sustainable levels of any population. There is no reason why some cant be harvested.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Oysters form reefs and shoals which cause waves to break out in the water instead of breaking directly on shore and compromising the shore line. Not sure about harvesting but if there is enough of them, there is a demand and like anything else, if it’s feasable someone will figure it out. Oysters are big business in other parts of the country and used to be in our area too...

[Hookmanski]

Can someone explain how oysters are going to have any appreciable effect on major storm swells? I dont see that happening. Also, like anything else, there are sustainable levels of any population. There is no reason why some cant be harvested.

^See Gerry's response about the storm swells, they're very helpful for that. In addition, yes a reasonable amount of oysters could be harvested, but because the population was so low it's going to take time for that population to be rebuilt. This is an excerpt from the article linked above..

"The two reefs at the naval station are the only oyster reefs on the New Jersey side of Raritan Bay, according to Comi.......Experimental oyster reefs are generally banned in New Jersey over worries that oysters raised in contaminated waters will accidentally end up in the food supply. "

So while we are making progress with oysters reproducing naturally, we are far from being ready to harvest them in any kind of real numbers. It'd be way better to leave them alone and let them clean our polluted waters and help protect our coastlines.

[Gerry Zagorski]

And here is an article that describes how prolific they were around here back in the day https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/06/01/history-half-shell-intertwined-story-new-york-city-and-its-oysters

[blindalfred]

And here is an article that describes how prolific they were around here back in the day https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/06/01/history-half-shell-intertwined-story-new-york-city-and-its-oysters

Good article on an interesting topic. If anybody is looking for a longer take try "The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell" Jan 9, 2007
by Mark Kurlansky (referenced at the end of the article). Anything by this guy is exhaustive and interesting.

[june181901]

Have read the book that Blindalfred recommends. Good reading about what we once had at our doorstep. My impression was pollution knocked them out not over harvesting.Available in libraries.

[shrimpman steve]

Most people don’t realize how historically significant the oyster was in the very early days on new Amsterdam (New York).

[NoLimit]

^See Gerry's response about the storm swells, they're very helpful for that. In addition, yes a reasonable amount of oysters could be harvested, but because the population was so low it's going to take time for that population to be rebuilt. This is an excerpt from the article linked above..

"The two reefs at the naval station are the only oyster reefs on the New Jersey side of Raritan Bay, according to Comi.......Experimental oyster reefs are generally banned in New Jersey over worries that oysters raised in contaminated waters will accidentally end up in the food supply. "

So while we are making progress with oysters reproducing naturally, we are far from being ready to harvest them in any kind of real numbers. It'd be way better to leave them alone and let them clean our polluted waters and help protect our coastlines.

Farmed oysters grow to 3" in 3 years. They do not take that long to grow to harvestable size. In any case, I am dead set against the govt making any ocean food source off limits. If they do that with oysters, its a simple step to do the same for clams or whatever.

[reason162]

Farmed oysters grow to 3" in 3 years. They do not take that long to grow to harvestable size. In any case, I am dead set against the govt making any ocean food source off limits. If they do that with oysters, its a simple step to do the same for clams or whatever.

I think you are completely missing the point of Gerry's OP. Native oysters were gone for decades...they filter/clean our water and serve as bulkheads against erosion. They are also canaries in a coal mine, a good thing too considering what is in store for our water supply under the current EPA.

[Capt. Debbie]

I guess two themes here. Food versus function.

There were many private oyster farms on the Hudson River in Edgewater about a 100 years ago.

The Hackensack River Keeper has been a proponent of seeding the Hackensack River above Jersey City. But state is afraid they will be consumed. I'm not sure how people will actually rake them. The boat traffic on that river is like a tumble weed in a western town circa 1890. LOL

[Gerry Zagorski]

Clams harvested commercially in the Sandy Hook area go through a purification process in the Highlands Co Op plant... Wondering if the same could work with Oysters...

Either way and as mentioned above, Oysters can help protect our shoreline and filter massive amounts of water which could help improve our water quality too... If we could eat them and local people could make a living harvesting them that would be an added bonus...

[june181901]

I wonder if the commercial clammers ever come across an occasional oyster while raking in Raritan Bay?

[NoLimit]

Probably do but it must be pretty rare. Clams are in mud and are mobile. Oysters are anchored like mussels. All these bivalves filter water and there are tons of them already. Be skeptical of anyone wanting to ban harvesting of anything in the bay.

[Hookmanski]

Probably do but it must be pretty rare. Clams are in mud and are mobile. Oysters are anchored like mussels. All these bivalves filter water and there are tons of them already. Be skeptical of anyone wanting to ban harvesting of anything in the bay.

To clarify, I am not against harvesting. I just believe they should be given the proper amount of time to reproduce and become plentiful. It would be hard for them to get a foothold in the bay nowadays with people harvesting a bunch before that point.

If we could grow our oyster population to become as plentiful as they once were we could open a whole new economic opportunity for fisherman, however we should give them a chance before we swoop in and take them all.

[torchee]

Farmed oysters take a few years to be harvested
But a reef takes many more years to form

They need much time to establish a wild reef
The reefs that were over harvested were likely hundreds of years old

[Ry609]

In the spirit of the holidays...I wouldn't touch those Raritan Bay oysters with a.....39 AND A HALF FOOT POLE!!!!

[torchee]

Ha! Agreed
It's going to be hard to market a Perth amboy oyster

[Jigman13]

Ha! Agreed
It's going to be hard to market a Perth amboy oyster

Anything is marketable with a catchy name. I can see it now "NJ back bay salts" $1.50 each. Locally harvested.

From where?!?!?