The Harbor Watershed Education and Urban Fishing Program is a four-day program that educates children from the Newark Bay Complex and throughout New Jersey about their local watershed. Children learn about how people’s actions affect the water and human health, and what they can do to help.

The DEP’s Divisions of Watershed Management and Science, Research & Technology in conjunction with the Division of Fish & Wildlife, the Hackensack RiverKeeper, the city of Bayonne and the Municipal Utilities Authority of Bayonne have offered the program for over 10 years.

The program, started in 1996, as a one day fishing excursion in Bayonne. In the early 1980’s the DEP discovered high levels of certain chemicals in several species of fish & the blue crab in the Newark Bay Complex. The Advisory Booklet will show you what species are under advisory & what waterways are included. The contamination is the result of many things, including industry by-products & illegal dumping along the waterways. A program
was suggested by a group of citizens who believed that educating their youth through use of local natural resources would create a greater awareness of their watershed and instill a sense of stewardship toward local natural resources.

The first several years of the Urban Watershed Program were conducted only in the Newark Bay Complex. The program has now expanded to other urban areas around the state. Trenton and Camden have participated over the last three years, and we hope to add several more cities in the future.