Press release
Press Release: Toms River NJ March 17, 2009
Contact: Gef Flimlin, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of
Ocean County, 732-349-1152
flimlin@aesop.rutgers.edu
SHELLFISH GARDENERS WANTED
The Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Project (BBSRP)
is looking for individuals interested in learning how to
grow clams and oysters and educating the public about
Barnegat Bay and its watershed. Starting in the end of
April, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County and
NJDEP Bureau of Shellfisheries will offer a program to
provide education in a special shellfish gardeners
program resulting in a Shellfish Gardeners
Certification. The Shellfish Gardener Training Course,
which is similar to the Master Gardeners Program, will
include spring and fall classroom work, field trips and
a supervised summer practicum.
During the
past four years we’ve trained over 125 volunteers in the
Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program. These
people having been enjoying themselves tremendously in
this effort. Beside the fact that we are successfully
raising shellfish, the most important part of our
program is to educate the public about water quality
issues in the Barnegat Bay Watershed. We do this by
inviting the public to join in our efforts at our nine
shellfish nurseries at various locations around the
bay. In addition, ReClam the Bay (RCTB), our non-profit
organization, advertises our work in the news media and
on their website. RCTB helps to support the Barnegat
Bay Shellfish Restoration Program through fundraising
and education. We need folks with all kinds of skills
and energy. In 2008, the program won a Governor’s Award
for Tourism and an Honorable Mention in the Governor’s
Environmental Excellence Healthy Ecosystems Program. You
can be a part of this great program too!
As an introduction to the Shellfish Gardening Course you
are invited to join us at a free, open house conducted
by BBSRP/ReClam the Bay. The open house will begin at
7:00 PM on April 28, 2008 at the Ocean County Extension
Center on Whitesville Road in Toms River (Route 527).
For more information, log on to the website
http://ocean.rcre.rutgers.edu/marine/bbsrp.html or
http://www.reclamthebay.org/ call the Rutgers
Cooperative Extension office at 732 349-1152.
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