Congressman Visits Shellfish in the Classroom

On Thursday May 19 Congressman Jon Runyan paid a visit to Harrington Middle School in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey to observe the Shellfish in the Classroom project that is in progress in Ms. Maureen Barrett's science room. Ms. Barrett, who was named the environmental educator of the year by the Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education, and her students have been growing baby oysters in six two and half gallon tanks since February. Wes Dalzell and Frank Vives initially visited Ms. Barrett's environmental club in October and presented the idea of growing shellfish in the classroom. The students enthusiastically responded and in February the RCTB volunteers returned with 60 ten month old oysters.
Ten oysters were placed in each tank and different amounts of algae were fed to the various tanks. The students were responsible for maintaining the proper environment, checking the temperature and salinity of the water in the tank daily and measuring the size of the oysters weekly to determine growth.
The students demonstrated the knowledge they have gained by presenting the visitors with an outstanding power point presentation and their ability to explain what they are leaning.
Congressman Runyan spent over an hour in the classroom and was very impressed with the degree of knowledge the children exhibited and the value of the Shellfish in the Classroom project.

RCTB Awared Two Grants

Phil Leonig and Jack Duggan wrote a grant proposal for funding from the Trust for Public Lands. They were able to receive a grant for $2000.00 which will be used to fund their shellfish restoration project.
Cara Musico and Wes Dalzell gave a presentation of our on going “Shellfish in the Classroom Program”at the Ocean County Curriculum Conference that was sponsored by the Barnegat Bay Partnership. As a result of that presentation RCTB was awarded a $1000.00 grant to be used for supplies and equipment that will be needed to expand the program to more schools in the fall.

IBSP Upweller Up and Running

On Saturday April 30th Manny Brito and his crew cleaned two Taylor floats that overwintered oysters at the Island Beach State Park upweller site. They were able to begin the process of opening the upweller for the 2011 season. On Monday the opening was completed and 2010 oysters were measured and counted. Approximately 9000 oysters with the average size of 47ml and the total volume of 16670 ml were divided into 5 silos. Three other silos contain larger and older oyster, spat on shell oysters and even some clams. Regular weekly cleaning will be the same time and day as in the past, Monday at 1:00 pm.
The Cattus Island upweller has been approved and the crew will begin its construction in the near future. Also the Mantaloking Yacht Club crew will be opening their upweller some time before the first of June. It is our hope that some of the new class members will join one or more of the three northern bay upweller teams.

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.