I remember growing up in the 1980s when my neighbors would drag a seining net through the Goose Creek area of the bay. They would walk the net out 30 or so feet. When they came back, the net contained numerous crabs and fish. I remember seeing a tiny seahorse, and a puffer-fish that we tried to throw back, but would only float atop the water. These days, the Goose Creek part of the bay is mainly populated by stinging jellyfish and the hardy crab.
The Barnegat bay jellyfish have long stinging streamers that can extend for several feet. The “jellyfish plague” and declining water quality has often been blamed on lawn fertilizer. Over the past few decades, Ocean County has had an extraordinary population boom. In decades past, the shore house standard was having rocks in the front and back yards, and an old boat on cinder blocks on the side of the house. In more recent times, new neighborhoods have spread throughout Barnegat bay watershed, with their green lawns stretching from Fort Dix all the way to the bay.
The Barnegat Bay’s water quality problems are not unique to the area. Other estuaries, such as the Chesapeake Bay, are having similar water quality issues. In response, the United States EPA started the National Estuary Program to help stabilize these ecosystems. The Barnegat Bay Partnership (located at Ocean County College) is part of the National Estuary Program, and has a website dedicated to the jellyfish problem.
The Barnegat Bay Partnership lists numerous factors that lead to the jellyfish plague, including increased development of docks and bulkheads, as well as “nutrient loading” from fertilizer runoff. The nutrient rich fertilizer runoff leads to increased plankton, which happens to be the favorite food of jellyfish.
Thankfully, the State of New Jersey and Chris Christie have passed a tough new fertilizer law. Starting this spring, the fertilizer sold at stores in NJ will have a different chemical composition. Pursuant to the “Fertilizer Act, effective January 5, 2013, all fertilizer products for turf must contain at least 20 percent slow-release nitrogen, and zero phosphorus. The NJ DEP details this new act, as well as the other steps being taken to increase the quality of the bay.
Hopefully, the efforts taken by the State will lead to better water quality and marine life that will lead to more enjoyment for Barnegat Bay boaters and everyone who lives near or visits our waterways.
I heard that the hurricane helped flush out or kill off a decent amount of the jelly fish. Something to do with the change in salinity throughout the bay. Hopefully things get better cause I’m sick of getting attacked all summer.