New Jersey approves oyster research project for cleaning up polluted waterways

State senate committee in New Jersey, US has approved a bill to allow experimental oyster colony research projects to be placed in polluted waterways to clean the water.

Placing oyster gardens in fouled water have been done previously as well. The initiative can make use of shellfish’s natural filtering mechanisms to clean impurities from the water.

New Jersey Environmental Protection Department, however, fears that the oysters will be stolen and sold by the poachers. This might result in sickening of the customers after eating a polluted oyster and damage New Jersey’s shellfish industry which is worth $800m.

Garden State Seafood Association spokesperson Scott Mackey was quoted by Associated Press as saying: "We are definitely concerned if someone eats a polluted oyster and gets sick.

"It would have a real impact on the seafood industry."

The committee approval accompanies instructions to hide whereabouts of the colonies from potential thieves. The bill will now be forwarded to the full senate for approval.

NJ Department of Environmental Protection director of legislative affairs John Hazen has informed that the state agency is trying to develop regulations which can allow such research colonies to set up in the polluted waterways.

Bergen County Republican Senator Gerald Cardinale supports the bill saying that the oysters can offer immense improvement to the local water quality.

According to him, the small size of the research oysters make them worthless for commercial purposes. Oysters having length of around 5 inches are sold in open markets, while those used for research are merely 2 ½ inches long and would not harm shell-fish industry.

NY/NJ Baykeeper environmental group along with Rutgers University had initiated one similar research project in the polluted Raritan Bay five years ago, which was later stopped by the government.

Baykeeper executive director Debbie Mans was cited by the news agency as saying that the colonies are not visible from the land.

Besides, placing them inside concrete balls and metal cages make them difficult to access. She suggested periodical checks by local police for additional protection.