NJ Farm Bureau Applauds Assembly Agriculture Committee Action to Support Aquaculture

TRENTON – New Jersey Farm Bureau, the state’s largest organization of farmers and agricultural interests, applauds the leadership of Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak and the Assembly Agriculture Committee for their favorable consideration today of a package of bills to enhance New Jersey’s aquaculture industry.  In particular, legislation to encourage US Fish and Wildlife Service and NJDEP to resolve conflict between protection of the red knot (AR-34) and establish a coordinated permitting apparatus for oyster operations to ensure their continued viability in the Delaware Bay (A-793; A-794), is especially appreciated.    
“Aquaculture is a prominent feature of New Jersey’s more than $1.1 billion food economy”, said Farm Bureau President Ryck Suydam.  “Ensuring continuity in the permitting process, as this bill package does, will enable the continued coexistence of New Jersey’s oyster-men and -women, and the red knot bird”, he added.   
In 2014, the red knot, a species of migratory bird, was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act.  This designation could negatively affect commercial oyster operations in the Delaware Bay, given that operations there are located in a part of the state that is a known flyway area for red knots.  The bill package released today seeks to harmonize the equally important goals of supporting a viable aquaculture industry in the Delaware Bay while maintaining ecological protections for the red knot. 
“Farm Bureau recognizes the importance of sustaining the red knot’s ecosystem within certain areas of the Delaware Bay, but believes that there must be a balance to enable oyster-operators in the region to successfully manage their aquaculture businesses”, said Suydam.  He added:  “We commend Chairman Andrzejczak and Assemblyman Land for their sponsorship of this important bill package, and were glad to see it released by the Assembly Agriculture Committee today”. 
The bill package now awaits further action by the Assembly.  It has not yet been reintroduced in the Senate in the new two-year legislative session.