Ecotourism at the Jersey Shore… will it work?
The Jersey Shore is a staple of New Jersey life, and a major attraction for beach-goers all over Northeast America, with the most popular beach locations including Cape May, Wildwood, Asbury Park, and Sandy Hook. A first-year student at Rutgers University states that she “spends her entire summer break on the beach tanning,” and a local ice cream shop owner claims that his business succeeds most when “the temperature is burning and the beaches are packed.”
However, Americans' connection to the Jersey Shore will be soon limited as Congressman Frank Pallone recently introduced a bill to the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act. The bill focuses on providing funding to governmental agencies and townships to monitor shores with regular testing. In turn, water pollution on beaches would be prevented from reaching hazardous levels. As beaches do testing and purification, beachgoers will be notified of closings and delays to prioritize water quality and public safety [1].
This bill was introduced as pollution and climate change are worsening the quality and safety of our beaches. Representing a new stance in the ongoing dilemma between nature and people, officials are now starting to prioritize beaches. This new focus will bring more resources to preserve our beaches, improving life below water. However, work in our oceans requires delays, closings, and funding which come at the expense of tourism and business activity. Additionally, ecotourism can be done more efficiently by prioritizing pollution clean-up, deep in the Atlantic, and using biodegradable material on beaches. The bill is a step in the right direction, to take a more effective stand on preserving a staple of many American lives.
How the Jersey Shore Will Benefit
The new bill brings increased new funding and places a strong emphasis on state agencies. With more funding, state-run agencies will have the resources to facilitate effective ocean protection. For example, agencies such as the Clean Shores Program that “preserve and enhance New Jersey’s coastal environment” will benefit [2]. Most importantly, the New Jersey Cooperative Coastal Monitoring Program will facilitate new standards between counties, specifically with more testing for “illness-causing bacteria” [1]. With more regular testing of beach waters, notification efficiency will be improved upon by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to inform beach-goers about beach warnings and closures on the department’s notification website [3]. Within these state agencies, funding will also be awarded to credible organizations and clean-ups.
With increased funding for various agencies and organizations, Atlantic marine life will benefit from reduced chemical contamination and pollution. Chemical contamination promotes the growth of algal blooms which are dangerous to marine life [4]. Pollution, specifically microplastic, is eaten by animals and becomes toxic within their tissues, eventually passing microplastic to other organisms within the food chain [4]. The new bill’s focus on preventing contamination and pollution sources along the coasts, will prevent dangerous materials from spreading deep into the Atlantic. This, in turn, leads to healthier and safer marine life, aligning with SDG 14: Life Below Water. . Additionally, addressing pollution on Jersey coasts indirectly contributes to SDG 13: Climate Action. as pollution causes ocean waters to become more acidic [5]. In turn, more acidic ocean water contributes to major climate change concerns such as coral bleaching by reducing “the availability of calcium minerals for skeleton building and repair” [6]. With the new standards and measures put in place on coasts, human impact on climate change in Jersey Shores will be reduced.
In addition to benefiting agencies and marine life, the new bill enhances the experience for people on the Jersey Shore. Currently, the Jersey Shore faces health hazards such as “increases in harmful algae blooms and jellyfish, continued problems with bacterial contamination at beaches, and problems with low dissolved oxygen levels in the near-shore waters” [7]. One beachgoer even claims that the water gets “dirtier and dirtier every summer.” However, as the bill focuses on bringing regular testing and clean-ups, the frequency and danger of these hazards will be alleviated to contribute to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being. Another ongoing issue that has been plaguing the Jersey Shore for decades is the “20% decrease in total commercial fishery revenues” experienced by Jersey Shore fisheries [7]. The decrease in fishery revenues directly hurts the seafood industries around the country, hurting sales and supply to support consumer demands. As a local fisherman said, “fishing 20 to 30 years ago fulfilled our company’s supply-demand from restaurants. We still can fulfill our quotas, but it's a lot harder now.” As mentioned before, the bill will improve marine life, ultimately leading to an increase in the availability of healthy fish to be caught and sold.
How the Jersey Shore Will Be Hurt
The Jersey Shore generates “$40 billion each year in New Jersey and supports over 330,000 jobs”, and the industry has a heavy reliance on the beach season from June to August [8]. During the beach season, the amount of tourists in New Jersey increases exponentially. For example, hotels greatly profit during the beach season - in the summer of 2021 hotel room bookings increased by 44.6% and the daily room rate rose by 20.2%, compared to the entire year of 2020 [9]. As hotels take in more people during the beach season, there are more consumers for local businesses to accommodate, and ultimately make more money. During the busy summer season, local restaurants that were previously empty form waiting lines, illustrating the influx of tourists and their impact on local businesses. Tourists play a pivotal role in the success of the Jersey Shore industry.
However, with tourism set to hit New Jersey beaches with more people than ever after COVID-19, decades of pollution will lead to a dramatic increase in ocean degradation. Furthermore, climate change is increasing ocean tide levels, acidity, and temperature [10]. The deadly effects of Hurricane Sandy, exacerbated by climate change, highlight the risks to beach safety [11]. A local firefighter even stated that “the days after Sandy were very hard” as he couldn’t stand to see his community “so devastated”. With beaches becoming more unsafe and the new bill focusing on enhancing beach safety, closures and delays will become more frequent and prolonged. This will undoubtedly hurt the economic boom around tourism in New Jersey but will alleviate the economic impacts of poor water quality for industries such as fisheries. All in all, closures and delays will be hurtful in the short term but will be beneficial in the long term for more sustainable industries.
Will Beach Eco-Tourism Work?
Before this bill was passed, the Jersey Shore was cleaner than other beaches around the country. However, problems with water quality were still apparent. , In a 2019 study, all New Jersey beaches were “considered unsafe for at least one day”, with certain beaches being “unsafe for swimming more than 40% of the time” [12]. The new bill is expected to improve these minor water quality issues, as agencies and townships have more resources to address them. However, with pollution and climate change posing threats to beach safety in the coming decades, restrictions on tourism and closures must increase to maintain the Jersey Shore’s eco-tourism success.
How To Make Eco-Tourism on the Jersey Shore More Effective
If we do want to make eco-tourism as effective as possible while minimizing beach closures and cleanups, innovative policies can be introduced. Addressing the root of pollution sources would be the most effective method. Data shows, “polluted runoff from roads and parking lots, overflowing or failing sewer systems, and farms are common sources of contamination” that pose threats to beaches [13]. Instead of solely focusing on ocean cleanup efforts, shifting attention to the sources could reduce the need for extensive shore cleanups. This could involve implementing stricter regulation of industries near the shores to minimize their environmental impact. Furthermore, exploring advanced sewage system technologies could be part of the solution.
As well as fixing the sources of ocean degradation, deep sea pollution clean-up in the Atlantic should also be instituted. The Atlantic Ocean is very polluted, containing “between 12 and 21 million tonnes” of plastic [14]. Pollution deep in the Atlantic spreads to coasts in waves, forcing more coastal clean-ups and closures as it accumulates. By cleaning up the Atlantic and the coast in conjunction, coasts will remain less polluted, calling for fewer clean-ups and more tourist enjoyment.
Since New Jersey has banned the use of plastic bags in stores, extending this ban to include other non-biodegradable materials near beaches is essential [15]. For example, beach businesses could replace plastic spoons and tin cans with more biodegradable alternatives such as wooden spoons and disposable cups. This would help prevent harm to marine life if these items do reach the water.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the new BEACH Act and New Jersey’s official efforts to preserve the Jersey Shore are a step in the right direction. Marine habitats will benefit the most, while the Jersey Shore industry will be negatively affected by new measures and closures. While closures and other standards may not be necessary now due to the Jersey Shore’s current health, worsening climate change and pollution over the next decades will demand more significant efforts to make our beaches safe. As a result, an already short beach season could become even shorter for the Jersey Shore industry and tourists.
As New Jersey prioritizes preservation, setting carbon reduction goals by 2050 is an important factor in ocean protection [16]. For example, New Jersey has introduced the Offshore Wind Project, which focuses on obtaining energy while “reducing emissions from fossil-fuel-dependent energy sources” [17]. Another project is “to install electric space heating and cooling systems in 400,000 homes and 20,000 commercial properties and make 10 percent of all low-to-moderate income properties electrification-ready” by 2030 [18].
The fight to prolong beaches is not only occurring on the Jersey Shore, but is a goal pursued around the world by organizations such as Greenpeace International, PRETOMA, and Take 3. Countries worldwide have also passed bills and policies to protect our ocean habitats including the Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries in Chile, the adoption of the Barcelona Convention in the Mediterranean Sea, and Ordinance 10-109 in the Philippines. The word "beach” could eventually become a rarity around the world as many beaches will become victims of climate change and degradation. However, we can prolong our beaches by participating in clean-ups, limiting our use of non-biodegradable materials, and by advocating for change. In the process of protecting our beaches, we should still admire the unique beauty, industries, and lifestyle that our beaches hold.
References
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