Dr. Beth Ravit (r), instructor of environmental science at Rutgers University, along with volunteers, prepares to collect data along the Raritan Bay near the Leonardo Public Marina on July 29. A team of citizen-scientist volunteers, led by NY/NJ Baykeeper and Ravit, completed data collection needed to create the first-ever survey map of conditions in the Raritan Bay. Below: Dr. Beth Ravit displays a baby mussel after collecting data along the bay. PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff I n an effort to renew oyster restoration to Raritan Bay, the NY/NJ Baykeeper is working with Rutgers environmental scientist Dr. Beth Ravit to create the first survey map of shoreline conditions in the bay.
The survey will map the littoral zone — the area of the bay closest to shore — and will create a guide for potential shellfish restoration activities.
“The mapping project will allow us to pick restoration test sites that have a great potential for long-term success,” Ravit, instructor of environmental science, said on July 29.
Ravit and a team from the Baykeeper led a mapping demonstration aboard the Thunder, captained by Capt. Bill Schultz. The demonstration also marked the final data collection before the maps are created.
“There was an area near Earle Naval Station that our team was unable to access by land, so we are taking the boat today to try to get the data,” she said.
To map the shoreline, Ravit and a team of citizen-scientist volunteers walked over 20 miles of the shoreline to collect the data. “We started in Keyport harbor, south through Union Beach, through Keansburg, down through Port Monmouth, down through the Highlands, Navesink and then out through the Bayshore of Sandy Hook,” Ravit said. “For most of this stretch, we were able to access the beach from public access points.”
Volunteers make their way to the site for collecting data along the Raritan Bay near the Leonardo Public Marina on July 29. ERIC SUCAR staff Using aYSI probe, a GPS handheld unit provided by the Rutgers University Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA) and a rake, Ravit is able to collect the necessary data, which includes the presence of any existing shellfish species, potential pollution sources, the presence of submerged or emergent sea grass species, the presence of bulkheads or docks, public access points, and water quality parameters (dissolved oxygen, turbidity, salinity, and pH).
The information collected is taken back to Rutgers and downloaded into the computer, where it is used to create the maps.
“We have given each characteristic a ranking of either a positive value or negative value. For example, if there was the presence of hard sand, it got a 10-plus, if it was mud it got a 5-minus,” Ravit said. She explained that by adding up the values, a score is arrived at for each location. A high score means the location is potentially good for oysters; a low score means it may not be a good location.
According to the preliminary map, the data shows that the area near Keyport and Conaskonk point in Union Beach as well as Point Comfort in Keansburg is the best habitat for oyster restoration.
Ravit said these locations make sense because there are several creeks that empty into them and provide the freshwater that oysters need.
The habitat at Horseshoe Cove in Sandy Hook got high scores as well, but one of the attributes that still have to be loaded is shore energy.
“When you go along the shoreline, there is a bunch of broken shells. The storm energy coming across the bay is probably too much. So these Sandy Hook sites will probably get a lower score once the data is put in,” she said, adding that oysters need protection from shore energy.
Ravit explained that once the maps are available, the plan is to start testing the oysters in the locations.
“If the [N.J. Department of Environmental Protection] lets us, the next step is to place test cages at some of the high-scoring locations to see if the oysters survive the winter,” Ravit said.
If the survivorship is high, it would indicate that the mapping model has validity and could be used as a tool in identifying other viable restoration sites in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary that may fulfill the goals of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Comprehensive Restoration Plan (CRP), which calls for 500 acres of oyster restoration, she said.
According to Debbie Mans, executive director of NY/NJ Baykeeper, the problem is convincing the NJDEP, which forced the Baykeeper to close down its oyster restoration project in August 2010 over concerns that oysters used for ecological restoration could be poached and sold to consumers, which could create a public health problem.
“While the oyster ban is in place, nothing is being done to heal the bay,” Mans said.
The map, which is being created by Rutgers University’s CRSSA, is expected to be completed by fall 2011. Baykeeper plans to expand the map to the west to cover Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Newark Bay and other areas.