In This Issue:

• Coastal Calendar
• FEATURE: Greening the Garden State Through Remediation, Assessment, and Restoration
• Jersey Beaches on "Shore" Footing
• Fishing for Regulatory Solutions
• Shellfish Restoration Program Enters Fifth Year
• Marine Science Competition Plumbs Oceans of Knowledge
• Shore Takes Center Stage in Survey

Fishing for Regulatory Solutions

by Kenneth Able, Ph.D., Professor, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University,
Mike Danko, Marine Recreation Agent, New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium/New Jersey Sea Grant,
and Thomas Grothues, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University.

The winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus

     Fish depend on various healthy habitats throughout their life cycles. Habitats can vary from sand, mud, and rocky bottoms, to seagrass beds and the water column in coastal rivers, estuaries and oceans. The type of habitat used by fish will vary by season, spawning periods and stage of life cycle. Many fish species are river and estuary-dependent for reproduction and during the juvenile stage, but will spend their lives as adults in the open ocean. In an effort to maintain sustainable fish populations, federal and state managers have identified Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for each federally managed fish species and developed conservation measures to protect and enhance these habitats.

     Dredging, beach replenishment and other activities can disturb EFH and impact reproduction, migration and growth of fish. Dredging and associated activities can interrupt spawning periods, entrap eggs and larvae, resuspend buried contaminated sediment, and degrade habitat. During certain periods of the year, regulators have determined that these activities can be safely conducted with minimal disturbance to wildlife. These periods are often referred to as environmental windows and provide regulators with a time frame when they can permit certain activities to be conducted. The first environmental windows were established more than 30 years ago and, according to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, environmental windows are applied to more than 80% of all federal dredging projects.

     Windows can have significant cost implications such as extended timeframes, delayed project deadlines, safety concerns related to working in inclement weather and extended days, and timing. In 2000, the USACE requested that a study be conducted to determine the decision making process used for determining windows. The study found that the scientific evidence used to establish windows varies greatly and ranged from current science and outdated data and information, to decisions based solely on the authority of the resource agency. Economic impacts were given minimal consideration when establishing windows.

     The recreational boating industry is dependent on navigable waterways and sufficient depth at slips. Maintaining adequate depth in channels used by recreational vessels and at marinas is severely impacted by the cost for activities such as obtaining permits, dredging and disposal of the dredged material. Public funding for dredging state and federal channels is limited and at private marinas, the costs must be absorbed entirely by the owner.

     In addition to these economic constraints, dredging projects at marinas and back bay coastal channels have been severely hindered by the window tied to the winter flounder (Psuedopleuronectes americanus) spawning period. Winter flounder spawn in the winter and unlike most other finfish, release adhesive eggs near the bottom. Therefore, the eggs are highly susceptible to any activities that result in disturbance to the sediment.

     Spawning habitat is currently defined as “strictly estuarine” and this broad definition often prevents dredging during winter through spring from being permitted in estuaries of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The interval for dredging is approximately June to December. The majority of this period coincides with roughly the same time frame when marina slips are full with boats and the channels are busy with boats transiting to and from their destinations. This leaves roughly a 2-3 month window, October through November, when dredging is economically feasible. Unfortunately, this period coincides with the time when it is necessary to remove all boats from the water and store them for the winter.