Defends Aquaculture

To the Editor: 
First, oyster aquaculture on the Delaware Bay intertidal flats is not new. Riparian grants for commercial oyster culture go back to the mid-1800s. Extensive aquaculture flourished on the flats between High’s Beach and Green Creek in the first half of the 1900s. Rutgers has photographic documentation of 1930s oyster culture: http://goo.gl/xrG9xO.
Second, the worm mentioned, Polydora cornuta, is not parasitic on oysters. This filter feeder builds mud tube colonies on the bags and competes with oysters for food. Abundant Polydora can prevent oysters from feeding, essentially smothering them. Washing is not needed every day for every bag.
Third, washing does not require ATVs. In fact, of the eight farms operating on the flats, only two have ATVs; both work mainly in the designated Aquaculture Development Zone (ADZ). ATV use is concentrated at Rutgers and the nearby ADZ. Where ATVs are used, their route to farms is circumscribed to minimize passage over horseshoe crab habitat. A limited number of trips is allowed during migration/breeding season.
Fourth, there is no evidence that rack-and-bag structures inhibit horseshoe crab movement to or from the beach. Crabs burrow into sloughs and under racks during daytime low tides to avoid the hot sun. It is likely that structure on the flats benefits the crabs: it shades them and provides habitat for many small invertebrates, a potential food source for them.
Fifth, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is not allowing aquaculture to expand into most sensitive areas for shorebird foraging. DEP has worked hard to minimize conflict with red knots; it has severely restricted aquaculture activity in the northern section where data indicate high shorebird foraging. The “high-use” zone from Pierces Point and Dias Creek north has such severe restrictions on rack-and-bag farming that it is virtually impossible to work there. In the southern, “moderate foraging use” zone from High’s Beach south to the Rutgers lab and the ADZ, oyster growers may work with significant restrictions. All of us growers have agreed to measures to protect birds and crabs as required by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and DEP.
Contrary to what is stated, the two leaseholders closest to the sensitive area do not conduct intensive aquaculture. The leaseholder closest to Dias Creek has voluntarily relocated to a lease next to the Rutgers lab to avoid conflict with birds. The other leaseholder, a small family business, works on less than one acre and has no ATVs. They work outside the extensive buffer zone around critical habitat on less than 10 percent of the useable intertidal area.  DEP is working on a transition plan to relocate this farm out of the sensitive “high use” zone. Meanwhile, the growers are allowed access to the farm only two days/week during the red knot migration season.
Importantly, the largest farm, with boats and capital for equipment, has moved much production from intertidal racks and bags to deep-water subtidal cages up the Bay to avoid shorebird conflicts. The remaining farms use a very small part of the intertidal expanse. Describing it as intensive aquaculture is misleading.
Finally, highest red knot use is north of the Maurice River in and near the extensive Egg Island Point marsh. This area, without residential or commercial activity, provides a sensible sanctuary location for horseshoe crab spawning and migratory shorebirds.
I have a long personal history on Delaware Bay: as a youngster, with my grandmother, an avid birdwatcher, I witnessed the “Arctic birds” migrating. It is gratifying to know that the Audubon Society is committed to caring for Delaware Bay and its wildlife and I share the goal to support responsible aquaculture.
 
The author owns Betsy’s Cape Shore Salts, an aquaculture venture in Cape May County.