Planning Director Updates On Wineries, Oyster Farms

CREST HAVEN – There is more to an area’s wealth than money alone. That’s what county Planning Director Leslie Gimeno told the April 7 meeting of the Coalition of Civic Associations (COCA) at the county Administration Building.
She spoke of the county’s economic development thrust into budding industries: wineries and oyster farming. Touching upon the WealthWorks topics from a Portland, Ore. seminar she had attended, Gimeno said the county’s unique geographic placement makes it excellent for those new industries.
While the county’s tourism industry generated about $6 billion annually, its land area is severely limited by wetlands and preserved acreage. The county consists of 621 square miles with 72 percent of its ratables located in the beach communities, and 370 square miles of its area is wetlands. Preserved land is under control of either Fish or Wildlife, the Nature Conservancy or the county’s Open Space and Farmland Preservation program.
Gimeno said there are six wineries with 100 acres under cultivation. Those produce 300 tons of fruit that result in a total 50,000 gallons of wine. The season is slightly longer than other areas, due to being located in the outer coastal plain.
Working in the state’s Aquaculture Development Zone is the “rebounding” industry of oysters. Gimeno said there are eight farmers, seven small and one large. They are utilizing the “rack and bag” system that is different than harvesting wild oysters. She likened the process more to farm production than commercial fishing.
It takes two years for oysters to mature in a labor intensive process. Annual production is about 1 million oysters, but there is a potential to raise 10 million. She noted there was a “crop multiplier effect of 5.2” which means the market demand could boost the value to $5.2 million.
The labor intensity produces a better end product, with half-shell oysters, having a higher value than other types, such as those used in stews.
Asked whether the oyster farming could be done in back bays, Gimeno said the state tightly regulates, and leases, the land under Delaware Bay where the oysters are raised.
Those eight oyster farmers face 13 separate agencies as they attempt to produce a product, she said.
Returning to the WealthWorks concept, Gimeno said both wine and oyster industries could combine to form an experience that tourists would remember.
“It’s not just about eating the oysters or drinking the wine…it’s about hearing local stories or buying food next door to the winery,” said Gimeno. The shared experience reminds tourists of their Cape May County visit, so it becomes more than the end product.
Both industries are year-round, and could produce jobs, not hundreds, but perhaps each one could add 10 or 15 jobs. Those would be a reason for young people to remain in the county, and to seek education that would assist them in those fledgling industries.
She noted the county is also supporting New Jersey Wine Week, in order to advocate for the local wineries.
“What have the advanced states done over the last 30 years to make this (oyster farming) easy?” asked Thomas Henry.
“We have looked to Virginia and Maryland,” said Gimeno. It is not federal regulations that stymie oyster farmers, but state rules “That make it so darn hard,” she said.
She said as a group they are lobbying the state to change its policies, make aquaculture a state priority, appoint an ombudsman, get a one-stop permitting process and treat aquaculture like farming, not as a wild fishery.
Also, if oyster farmers were regulated by the Department of Agriculture, not Environmental Protection, it is possible they would then fall under the state’s “Right to Farm” laws that protects what is done while growing crops.
A visitor’s center where tourists could taste and buy oysters and local wines could help bolster both industries as well as the county, she stated.