NJ Fish farming

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CAPE MAY — New Jersey’s fish farming industry is now advanced enough that state policy should focus on “business solutions rather than technical developments” as the best way to grab a bigger seafood market share, said state Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher.

“We have the strength of market, plenty of customers and the infrastructure in place,” Fisher said Tuesday at the Rutgers University aquaculture center, where he issued the first update to the New Jersey aquaculture development plan in almost 20 years.

“We have a lot of potential now that’s not being realized,” said James M. Tweed, manager of the Atlantic Capes Fisheries oyster farm on the western shore of the Cape May peninsula.

The company’s Cape May Salts oysters, grown to market size on racks just off the beach, are already an established brand name in American oyster bars, along with the classics like the Blue Points from Long Island Sound.

The Christie administration is ushering in a simplified permit system for seafood growers, a step that will help people get into business quicker and at less cost. It has been a priority for state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin and was put together by the agency’s Division of Land Use working with the Division of Fish and Wildlife.

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