July 18, 2011
DEP ISSUES REMINDER ABOUT BAN ON BLUE CLAW CRABBING
HEALTHY LOOKING CRABS POSE HEALTH RISK
(11/P83) TRENTON – The
Department of Environmental Protection is reminding State residents
that harvesting blue claw crabs from the waters of the Lower Passaic
River and Newark Bay is prohibited, as scientists have found that crabs
from those waters continue to show harmful levels of cancer-causing
dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as well as other
contaminants, including mercury.
A coordinated multi-language education effort is
underway this week, with the help of community groups and municipalities
in the Lower Passaic and Newark Bay region, to get a reminder message
out to area residents about the negative health effects of crabbing in
those waters.
DEP enforcement officers and community and
environmental organizations have monitored waters in the region this
spring and found that many of the warning signs regarding the dangers of
crabbing have been torn down and that some residents continue to fish
for blue claw crabs.
"We strongly urge people not to eat crabs pulled from
those waters. This is a matter of public health and safety for people
who live in neighborhoods in that region,’’ said DEP Commissioner Bob
Martin. "Until the water quality issues are resolved, we are asking
people to observe the ban on crabbing in that area. There are plenty of
other places in clean waters for good, healthy fishing and crabbing in
New Jersey.’’
Contaminants found in blue claw crabs and some fish
pulled from waters in this region can be especially harmful to fetuses
and infants, so women of child-bearing years, pregnant women and nursing
mothers should not eat these crabs. Children also are at risk of
developmental and neurological problems if exposed to these chemicals.
"There is no way to prepare crabs from these waters
to make them safe for consumption,’’ said
Acting State Department of Health and Senior Services
Commissioner Dr. Tina Tan.
The blue claw crab is a bottom dweller and feeder
that has grown in size and increased in abundance in the Newark Bay
Complex and Lower Passaic River in recent years because the area is
closed to commercial crabbing. That increased size and abundance has
made the blue claw crabs even more attractive to some crabbers, who
ignore the ban on crabbing and consumption, which has been in effect
since the mid-1980s.
"Some people don’t want to believe there is a
problem,’’ said Gary Buchanan, manager of the DEP’s Office of Science,
which has extensively studied these waters. "Because these crabs look
really healthy, many people may not truly comprehend the problem and, as
a result, ignore our warnings. But those crabs are not healthy and
should not be eaten.’’
To inform residents of risks of eating blue claw
crabs pulled from the Lower Passaic River and Newark Bay aquatic
complex, the DEP is working with the State Department of Health and
Senior Services (DHSS), local partners, and officials of 44
municipalities and 6 counties -- Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Union
and Passaic – affected by this issue.
A long-term outreach and education effort being
conducted by the DHSS Seafood and Shellfish Project has distributed
nearly 200,000 copies of a brochure in English and Spanish that warns of
the effects of dioxins on children.
The region in question is a highly industrialized
urban area that includes Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill and Kill Van Kull,
and the tidal portions of the Hackensack, Passaic, Elizabeth, and Rahway
rivers.
In 2005, the DEP and State Attorney General’s Office
filed a lawsuit against the companies responsible for the intentional
discharge of dioxins into the Lower Passaic River. At that time, dioxin
concentrations in Passaic River crabs and fish were among the highest in
the world. That lawsuit is still pending in Superior Court.
Additionally, the DEP is now working with the federal
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on plans for a cleanup of an
eight-mile stretch of the Lower Passaic River. In a separate action,
responsible parties are preparing to remove about 40,000 cubic yards of
dioxin-contaminated sediments in a portion of Lower Passaic River. That
work is scheduled to begin this summer.
Persons who violate the crabbing ban in the Lower
Passaic and Newark Bay are subject to fines ranging from $300 to $3,000
for a first offense.
For more information on the ban, including Spanish
and Portuguese language information, visit:
