Oysters in Raritan Bay

[Gerry Zagorski]

Great to have Oysters back in our waters...
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...ducing_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.....

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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...