Author: njbayislands

By Kristin Adams, OCSCD Read the Full Article Here This past September, District staff members Becky Laboy and Kristin Adams attended the fourth annual New Jersey Bay Islands Initiative field trip, hosted by the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Rutgers University Marine Field Station in Tuckerton. The NJ Bay Islands Initiative is a group […]

By Emilie Lounsberry July 28, 2025 The “coastal ecosystem engineers” are thriving in man-made reefs of concrete and recycled shells that protect coastlines here and in at least 10 other states from storm surges and rising waters. Read More Here….

By Juliet Kaszas-hoch June 25, 2025 New Jersey Bay Islands Initiative Marks Five Years – The SandPaper Group Unveils Boat Wake Campaign Meant to Protect Marsh Edge Integrity

by Nina Sassano June 25, 2025 Spanning over 160 small islands in Barnegat, Little Egg, Great, and Absecon Bays, New Jersey’s bay islands form a vital yet often overlooked coastal system teeming with wildlife, buffering storms, and anchoring communities. Together, partners including the Barnegat Bay Partnership, NJ Fish and Wildlife Service, the Jacques Cousteau NERR, Ocean County […]

September 24, 2024 by Ocean County Soil Conservation District For many people, summers on the Jersey Shore are about sun, sand, and surf. But for high school student Nora Morton, the Jersey Shore is more than just a vacation destination—it’s where her love for the environment began. Growing up boating, kayaking, fishing, and exploring the marshes of […]

In the race to save critical parts of the Jersey Shore from disappearing, there’s a call for boaters to slow down and keep their distance. Waves from boat wakes, storm surges and wind are threatening back bay marshes which help protect shore towns from flooding that’s become more frequent due to climate change. There’s an […]

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative (NJCRC) co-hosted their first New Jersey Coastal and Climate Resilience Conference from March 12-14 at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. With a theme of “Adapting to Change – Creating Resilient Communities,” the event gathered 300 attendees and nearly 150 […]

By Juliet Kaszas-Hoch Long Beach Township learned earlier this winter that it had been approved for a $772,300 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to design a final stage nature-based restoration plan for two bay islands off the municipality. “The project will facilitate permit applications, readiness for implementation and long-term monitoring to elevate habitat and […]

Mordecai Island, a marsh island located to the west of the borough of Beach Haven in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, stands out as a model of natural and living shoreline island restoration. More than seventy species, including many at risk avian and non-avian species, use this island for nesting.  Since the 1970’s, the island has […]

by Linda Colgan | Jan 20, 2024  MORDECAI ARMY CORPS BREAKWATER PROJECT IS OFFICIAL!  The Mordecai Land Trust has officially announced that the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) recommended plan for the Mordecai Island Ecosystem Restoration Project has moved out of feasibility and into the Design and Implementation Phase of the project…. Read more here.