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Can anyone weigh in on this? Change.org is sending around a petition asking to lift the ban on oyster research restoration in NJ that could cut down on damage to the coast by such storms as Sandy in the future. It makes sense--or does it?

Petition excerpt:
in August 2010, NJ DEP banned research, restoration, and education projects using oysters in waters classified as “Restricted” or “Prohibited” for shellfish. This essentially deems the vast majority of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary off-limits for oyster restoration. DEP’s ban shut down research (permitted by DEP for ten years) that was just beginning to yield important information on the feasibility of oyster survival and restoration in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary (HRE).


Benefits of lifting the ban:
Oysters enhance subtidal habitat by filtering high volumes of particles from the water column, thus cleaning the water, and by providing feeding, breeding, and nursery habitat for multiple marine species and rich feeding grounds for shorebirds. Oyster reefs can also provide shoreline protection if they are large enough to break up heavy wave action on a shoreline.
New Jerseyans treasure their beaches and marine life and are determined to rebuild. Is this a viable direction? Thanks so much.
Terri McNichol 
President, Ren Associates; Developer imaginement™ 
http://renassociates.com 
Adjunct Faculty, Mercer County Community College 
Independent Scholar, princetonresearchforum.org 
Telephone +1.609.371.5354 
Cell +1.609.638.5878 

Recent presentations: 
Wise Management Conference, Shanghai, May 23-26 
Society For Ethics Across the Curriculum Annual Conference, Grand Rapids, MI, October 4-6 




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