STONE HARBOR – The use of snare traps for predator control at Stone Harbor Point was a hotly debated issue at Stone Harbor Borough Council meetings in summer 2019.
Faced with a need to maintain a strong working relationship with state and federal wildlife officials, the borough stopped attempts to press for an end to the use of what some considered inhumane use of snare traps.
The governing body is trying to continue its support of federal and state predator-control processes at the Point, while also requesting the intervention of U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd).
The goal is to see if alternative means of control can be employed, despite the insistence of federal and state officials that snare traps are the most effective mechanism.
According to Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour, the council authorized a formal request for Van Drew’s intervention. Van Drew was instrumental in helping Stone Harbor, along with Avalon and North Wildwood, gain a reversal of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service restrictions on borrowing sand from Hereford Inlet for federal beach replenishment projects.
