According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., cutbacks in inspections and patrols of closed fishing grounds put the public health at risk. It is fact that shellfish is highly perishable and took little time to contaminate.
The group said that the state Department of Environmental Protection, which monitors water quality and the harvest of shellfish, is at fault. Even the state Department of Health and Senior Services, which inspects shellfish dealers who export New Jersey’s clams, oysters and mussels, is also responsible.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees New Jersey’s shellfish programs to ensure they are protecting the public from health risks associated with eating tainted seafood. But the federal agency’s 2009 evaluation faulted New Jersey for several shortcomings.
In response to the FDA’s evaluation, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin last month banned all research-related gardening of shellfish in closed areas. Bill Wolfe, spokesman for PEER, said that the FDA can prevent New Jersey wholesalers from selling Jersey Fresh shellfish out of state because of the state’s continuing noncompliance.
Scot Mackey, spokesman for the Garden State Seafood Association, said the state is taking appropriate action by closing waters it cannot afford to patrol. He added that seafood, and shellfish in particular, is so carefully monitored that poachers would have trouble finding a market to sell illegal products in New Jersey. DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said the agency is adding enforcement officers to patrol shellfish beds to comply with FDA rules.
