DEP Keeping Extra Close Eye On Barnegat Bay

The Department of Environmental Protection, along with State Police, Ocean County and local authorities, will conduct education and compliance sweeps on Barnegat Bay throughout the summer.

The goal of the project is to familiarize local residents and many thousands of seasonal visitors to the bay with low-impact boating measures.

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Bob Considine, spokesman for the DEP, says boaters who are stopped will receive green boating literature, and maps showing the 16 most ecologically sensitive areas around the bay.

The extra sweeps are part of the Christie Administration's continuing effort to protect and restore ecologically important Barnegat Bay.

NJ State Park Police Director Rick Arroyo says the summer sweeps will add more police presence utilizing multiple law enforcement agencies under a unified command to educate and enforce boating rules.

This summer, the DEP recommends boaters:

• Stay out of restricted areas set aside for wildlife.
• Buoy mooring chains and lines to prevent scraping the bottom of the bay.
• Use pump-out boats and facilities.  Do not discharge wastewater holding tanks into open water.
• Maintain 100-foot distance to shorelines.
• Minimize wakes in shallow water.
• Appreciate wildlife from a distance.
• Cut the engine and do not idle in open water.