Life on Barnegat Bay on Local TV

"Life on the Barnegat Bay," a documentary about the ecological deterioration of Barnegat Bay and hopes for its restoration, will be broadcast on local cable television systems Jan. 11 through Jan. 16.

Produced by the Barnegat Bay Partnership and the staff of Ocean TV-20 at Ocean County College, the film features Paul D. "Pete" McLain of Toms River, a veteran wildlife biologist and former deputy state wildlife director whose professional and personal life has been intertwined with the bay for most of his 80-plus.

The airing of this documentary comes on the heels of the recent bills signed by Governor Christie in Waretown which will have a signifcantly positive impact on the Bay. According to legislative testimony by Scotts MiracleGro in August of this year this bill will become the model for most other states. The law will be the first in the country to regulate the content of fertilizer rather than merely rely on homeowners to read and follow the directions on the bag as the mechanism for protecting estuaries.

"Save Barnegat Bay" who is responsible for pushing the legislation, is a not-for-profit environmental group working to conserve undeveloped natural land and clean water throughout the Barnegat Bay watershed. They were founded in 1971 as a local chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, a leading national environmental organization.

The film also features a look at the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center near Island Beach State Park, and the Lighthouse Center in Waretown, where environmental education programs are teaching a new generation of students about the bay's problems.

The documentary will be broadcast Tuesday at 8 p.m.; Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.; Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; and again Sunday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. It can be seen on Ocean TV-20 on Comcast of Toms River, Long Beach Island Channel 20, and on Verizon FiOS in northern Ocean County, Channel 24.

Karl Hess, Jersey Shore Real Estate

Barnegat Bay Ecosystems, Ocean County NJ

Barnegat Bay's ecosystems have been declining for years due to overdevelopment in the Barnegat Bay watershed area which has resulted in ‘over-paving' of land, which causes storm-water runoff from lawns, roadways and parking areas that carries nitrogen and phosphorus into the bay, causing algal blooms that choke oxygen off from native eel-grass and shellfish.

Barnegat Bay stretches approximately 30 miles along the coast of Ocean County, between Barnegat Peninsula and the mainland. The Toms River and Forked Rivers are among several rivers that wind through the bay's 660-square-mile watershed on their way to its inner shore.

This unique area is rich in marine life. Commercial and recreational fishing, and related recreation and eco-tourism, contribute approximately $3.5 billion annually to the region's economy.

Legislators have yet to pass the Assembly and Senate environment committee's bill recommendations.  Let's remember that a healthy Barnegat Bay is necessary for ALL our livelihoods along Ocean County's Jersey Shore.

 

 

Karl Hess, Your Agent on The Jersey Shore, Search for Homes, Barnegat Bay