LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT

December, 2023, January, 2024

1. At a recent NJ Marine Fisheries Council Meeting, a letter from a Rutgers scientist reported a Hypoxia event off the Jersey coast in 2023. Hypoxia is low oxygen levels, normally at the bottom. In summary, underwater robots, called gliders, measured water quality including oxygen concentration and pH from Sandy Hook south to Tuckerton, and from nearshore (50 ft) to 200 ft. depths offshore. Coast-wide, hypoxia levels of dissolved oxygen (concentrations of 3 mg/liter) were observed at shallower, more inshore locations. Low pH was measured in bottom waters, and aragonite saturation state (biological impacts) which is indicative of ocean acidification, was calculated to be (1) in several locations. Normal, more optimal levels in seawater typically include dissolved oxygen concentrations 7 mg/liter, pH of 8.1 and aragonite saturation states of 3.

A common seasonal phenomenon in NJ coastal shelf water is strong summer stratification whereby cold water near the bottom is capped by warm, highly oxygenated water near the surface. Nutrient input from rivers and estuaries create phytoplankton in the surface layer that eventually die and sink to the bottom, where bacteria break them down, and in the process remove oxygen from the water.

Mortalities were reported for lobster, Jonah crab, Atlantic rock crab, spider crab, black sea bass, and tautog mostly off Monmouth and Ocean Counties, and included the Mud Hole, and southward to the Sea Girt and Axel Carlson Reefs and the surrounding areas, and as far East as the Lillian Wreck. The co-occurrence of reported fish, lobster, and crab mortalities, the observed values of pH and the aragonite saturation state that were lower than previously measured for recent summers in this region, and the combination of lower dissolved oxygen and low pH and aragonite saturation state, point to the fact that poor conditions observed this summer would have been more pronounced than in previous years.

Mortalities associated with low oxygen at the bottom is not new. The most extreme NJ Hypoxia event occurred in the summer of 1976, whereby mass mortalities of marine organisms occurred over a 12,000 km area. I remember diving that year in black water at the bottom and observing lobster at the highest point of wrecks trying to survive.

2. There is no good news for the recreational fishery. Apparently, there will be a coastwide 28% reduction in the recreational harvest limit for Fluke in 2024. For example, this could be reflected as a shorter season, or a smaller bag limit, or perhaps a larger size limit. The ASMFC is considering a 3 inch slot for Striped Bass due to a large overage in 2022, such as 28 to 31 inch or 30 to 33 inch. At the ASMFC winter meeting on 1/24/24, they decided to keep the 28 – 31 inch slot, and allowed NJF&W to keep the Bonus Bass Program with a 24 to 28 inch slot, so that the spearfisherman has a 7 inch legal slot instead of a 3 inch slot provided he or she has the Bonus Bass tag. There may be a 7% reduction in the Bonus Bass program due to an equivalent cut in the commercial fishery, but the Bonus Bass program normally only issues 30% of the number of tags that it could issue. Regarding Black Sea Bass, I thought there was discussion about a 10% cut, but also heard status quo. All of this will now apparently be decided at the March meeting of the NJ Marine Fisheries Council for the State of New Jersey.

(2)

3. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) gave the public just 45 days to review a 1,429-page Programmatic Environmental Impact statement (PEIS) presenting 6 large NY Bight lease areas all off NJ totaling more than 488,000 acres that were brought by private companies in 2022. The PEIS is the programmatic measures that BOEM would require as conditions of approval for activities proposed by lessees, unless later shown as not warranted or effective by NEPA. The Record of Decision (ROD) for the PEIS will state which of the measures analyzed in the PEIS has been adopted. The Draft PEIS looks at the potential impacts and how those impacts can be avoided, minimized or mitigated.

The six areas from North to South are Vineyard Mid-Atlantic Wind (OCS A 0544), Bluepoint Wind (OCS A 0537), Attentive Wind (OCS A 0538). Community Offshore Wind (OCS A 0539), Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind (OCS A 0541), Invenergy Wind Offshore (OCS A 0542). Closest distance to New Jersey Shoreline is 27 nautical miles for Atlantic Shores Offshore, with 4 others over thirty nautical miles, and Bluepoint Wind at 53 nautical miles. However, Vineyard Wind is only 20 nautical miles from the New York shoreline. The minimum depth is 31 meters for Atlantic Shores Offshore and Community Offshore Wind, or a little over 100 feet. The distance from shore for these wind farms suggests little impact on sport diving, but remember that the export cables must traverse the distance and come ashore somewhere.

jf2983182@msn.com Respectfully,

Jack Fullmer

Legislative committee