RCTB Members Have Been Busy

Although it is Spring and still a few months until the shellfish growing season begins, some of our members have been very busy this year. Namely our Speakers Bureau and our Education Committee. In summary, presentations were given to the following groups. Holiday City Mens Club, Long Beach Island Business Alliance, South Ocean County Hospital Aux., Barnegat Bay Sail Club, Ocean County Curriculum Workshops and the Forked River Rotary, Ocean County College students at MATES and at the College Campus. Classroom lessons were conducted at Mt. Laurel Middle School, Collins Elementary School, Barnegat Elementary School, Waretown Priff Elementary School, South Toms River Elementary, and Lavalette Elementary School. Members also attended several environmental conferences and workshops. Our public relations chairman, Charlie Bryant has contacted the local news outlets and has appeared on the Bob Levy radio program. Manny Brito has been in contact with the folks at Cattus Island and has arranged for us to hold classes at the Park this summer. It is also possible that we will have a new upweller site near the dock at Cattus Island. As a result of RCTB's presentation at the Ocean County Curriculum Conference the Barnegat Bay Partnership has awarded us a $1000.00 stipend to continue our Shellfish in the Classroom project. Members have been busy working on other projects, such as revising our Cook Book, recruiting new members and sponsors and generally spreading the word about our organization. I am sure that I have not listed all that has been happening so please feel free to e-mail me with any news that you would like to share and I will see to it that it appears in future blog posts. fmvives@gmail.com

Ocean Gate Tries New Nitrogen Removal System.

The people of Ocean Gate have once again led the way with an environmentally friendly public works project. Today's Asbury Park Press article details the experimental nitrogen removal system that may be another useful agent in our efforts to clean up Barnegat Bay. Our own shellfish gardener, Councilwomen Joella Nicastro was one of the six members to vote for the project.

Barnegat Elementary Kids to Aid ReClam the Bay

Each year the Barnegat Elementary School District’s “Leadership In Training” program’s fifth graders work hard on their goal of raising money for worthy charities. Last year the children raised funds for the earthquake victims in Haiti. This year they decided to work for a more local and community based program and have chosen ReClam the Bay and the purchase of a Giant Clam to be their goal. Yesterday, Feb. 9th teachers Leigh Sharpless, Bonnie Harris, Sara Flynn and Billie Ambrose from the Cecil S. Collins School, Robert L Horbelt School, Joseph T. Donahue School and the Lillian M Dunfee School and the children of the Leadership In Training program met for an assembly program at the Collins School with volunteer members from ReClam the Bay. Dr. Jim Merritt began the program with an overview of our program, a brief history of the bay, the importance of shellfish to the bay and what we can do to help keep the bay healthy. Wes Dalzell and Frank Vives distributed live oysters to the children and gave a hands- on lesson on measuring oysters. The program’s last presenter was Rick Bushnell who talked about the Clam Trail and the Giant Clams of Ocean County. He also gave the children fund raising ideas and thanked them for their interest in ReClam the Bay.

New Pollution limits for Bay

The Asbury Park Press has reported on the current actions of the DEP regarding pollution levels in the bay. The article appears in today's Press.

Wes send me the following article from last months' National Geographic Magazine about one way to rid the Chesapeake Bay of cownosed rays. Our friends at garbagefish.com will like this story.

Lavallette Kids Nix Nitrogen 'N Nettles Now

This morning's (Saturday, Feb. 5) Asbury Park Press has an article that I would like to share with you. The concept of getting young people interested and involved in learning about Barnegat Bay is rapidly catching on thanks to the efforts of Jim Merritt and other environmental activists. Our Shellfish in the Classroom program has now distributed oysters to children in Waretown Pritt Elementary School and Mt. Laurel Middle School. Look for more info on these programs in a future blog post.

Oysters in the News

As I was browsing the Internet I came across several interesting articles dealing with the plight of oysters world wide.

The first article deals with the oyster restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico.

The second is closer to home concerning efforts of oystermen in the Delaware Bay.

The third article deals with the decline of the oyster population everywhere in the world.

First Monthly Meeting

The first monthly meeting of ReClam the Bay took place on Jan. 18, at the Cooperative Extension building in Toms River. The education committee meeting preceded the regular meeting and the committee was pleased to see 12 volunteers who expressed interest in helping with the education mission.

Another 20 people attended the regular meeting, Rick gave an overview of our 2010 growing season. He went over the various growth data charts from some selected upwellers and compared the growth rates of various hatcheries and upwellers. He stated that we are improving our data collection and that we will have a meeting in the spring before this growing season begins to set up uniform procedures for all upwellers. If you want to see all we accomplished in 2010 see the Annual Report

Wes presented a report on the various educational outreach activities that are ongoing, including

the speakers presentations to adults as well as the “shellfish in the classroom” and “Junior Shellfish Gardeners” programs.

Cara reported on the meetings she has attended with the Barnegat Bay Partnership and how recent events have been very encouraging. The signing of several bills, including the strict use of lawn fertilizer, the soil restoration bill and the storm basin repair bill are certainly steps in the right direction concerning the future health of the bay. She also gave a brief overview of the governor's comprehensive ten point plan of action.

Donna Managed to get Mike DeSider from Ritchie & Page Distributor Company to donate a great looking single person RED kayak and brought it to the meeting. We plan to bring it to fairs and festivals and sell raffle tickets this year.