NJ Seeks To Address Competing Interests In Part Of The Delaware Bay
by KYW's David Madden
TRENTON, NJ (CBS) -- Environmental officials in New Jersey are coming to grips with a pair of conflicting interests along the Delaware Bay. Protecting an endangered bird while addressing the needs of oyster farmers.
"We have a very delicate balancing act all the way around which involves a traditional industry in the Bay region and two species of animals that have been intertwined for millennia," Larry Hajna with the Department of Environmental Protection told KYW Newsradio.
The Red Knot travels between the southern tip of South America and the Arctic every year, stopping in Cape May County to feed, big time. Oyster farmers recently got the green light to expand their operations in the bay.
The DEP has come up with a way they hope the two interests can co-exist. The plan, split an area near a peninsula in Middle Township between the two, with the birds at the northern end.
"That area provides probably the better Red Knot habitat," Hajna said. "It provides creek shoals that the Red Knots use because that's where the horseshoe crabs are concentrating as they're coming in to spawn."
The birds feast on the eggs the crabs leave behind.
Experts from Rutgers are watching the birds closely, and looking to see if this plan works out.