NJDEP Marine Water Monitoring - Shellfish Classifications of New Jersey's Coastal Waters

2012 Classification Maps
	Cover Pages - Please Read First
	Chart 1 - Raritan Bay
	Chart 2 - Sandy Hook Bay
	Chart 3 - Navesink & Shrewsbury Rivers
	Chart 4 - Shark River
	Chart 5 - Manasquan River
	Chart 6 - Toms River/Barnegat Bay
	Chart 7 - Barnegat Inlet
	Chart 8 - Southern Barnegat Bay
	Chart 9 - Manahawkin Bay
	Chart 10 - Little Egg Harbor
	Chart 11- Great Bay/Mullica River
	Chart 12 - Absecon Inlet
	Chart 13 - Great Egg Harbor Inlet
	Chart 14 - Corson's Inlet
	Chart 15 - Townsends Inlet
	Chart 16 - Hereford Inlet
	Chart 17 - Cape May Inlet
	Chart 18 - Eastern Delaware Bay
	Chart 19 - Western Delaware Bay
	All Shellfish Classification Map (large file)

Click on the area of the New Jersey coast that you are interested in on the map below (Adobe

PDF files ). These figures represent the State Regulations (N.J.A.C. 7:12).

Interactive NJ Marine Water Classification Map

All of New Jersey’s shellfish beds had been closed since October 29 as part of a statewide closure of all New Jersey shellfish beds to commercial and recreational harvesting due to concerns over degradation of coastal water quality caused by Superstorm Sandy. Effective sunrise (6:10am) on April 15, 2013, all of New Jersey’s shellfish beds that were once closed as a result of Superstorm Sandy will return to the classifications they had before Superstorm Sandy hit in October.

Please note: After reviewing all monitoring data for 2012, no changes to shellfish growing water classifications are required. Therefore, to save public money, distribution costs and fuel, the Department will continue to use 2012 SHELLFISH GROWING WATER CLASSIFICATION CHARTS for 2013. Paper copies of the 2012 SHELLFISH GROWING WATER CLASSIFICATION CHARTS remain available. In addition the 2012 Shellfish Classifications GIS data file is available for download click here.

Each year, the Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring collects approximately 10,000 water samples and analyzes these samples at its laboratory facilities in Leeds Point, NJ. In addition, bureau staff regularly perform field surveys of the coastal shoreline to monitor any actual or potential pollution sources. This information is reviewed each year in order to update the classification of the state's coastal waters for shellfish harvest. Reports on this information can be found in the reports section of this website. These classifications are performed to maintain New Jersey's compliance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program and to maintain the state's excellent record of safe shellfish harvest.

To review these classifications, click on a portion of the map or the side bar to see the 2012 classifications for that portion of the state. SHELLFISH GROWING WATER CLASSIFICATION CHARTS ARE A GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF THE CLASSIFICATION REGULATIONS AND ARE PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. See N.J.A.C. 7:12 for the full legal descriptions; or the NJDEP Rules and Regulations website. The 'Cover Pages' explain the most recent changes in classification. The printed booklet of the shellfish classification charts is now available at our office and various locations throughtout New Jersey. Please be advised that, due to severe storms or short term pollution events, temporary closures of shellfishing waters are sometimes made. If you are not certain about conditions in waters where you will be harvesting, please contact the Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring at (609) 748-2000.

A valid shellfish license (commercial or recreational) is required for any shellfish harvesting in New Jersey and shellfish permits are required for commercial harvesting. For more information on a shellfish harvesting license and other regulations (such as size limits), contact the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife, Bureau of Shellfisheries at (609) 748-2040.

To download the Shellfish Classifications GIS data file, click here (check for the 2012 version).

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