Congratulations to the winners of Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Species on the Edge 2.0 social media contest for New Jersey high school students.
Students from all over the state took part in the contest by creating a series of social media posts focusing on one of New Jersey’s vulnerable species. The contest gives students the chance to use their social media skills, and knowledge of wildlife biology, to help imperiled species.
(more…)New Jersey High School Students Invited to Speak Up for Wildlife – and win prizes – in the Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest
High school students from across the state are invited to put their meme making skills and social media savvy to work for wildlife.
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Sometimes the path to the wilderness starts with a screen. For teens growing up in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the country, connecting with nature can seem a bit unnatural. Smartphones, tablets, computers these are all a part of everyday life, but bald eagles, diamondback terrapins, or bobcats can seem like creatures from a different world.
The Species on the Edge 2.0 contest, a statewide educational competition open to all high school students, bridges these two worlds to inspire the next generation of wildlife lovers and conservation leaders.
In celebration of these future leaders, Conserve Wildlife Foundation and contest sponsor PSEG Foundation recently presented the winners of the fourth annual Species on the Edge 2.0 contest, with scholarships at a ceremony at PSE&G headquarters in Newark.
(more…)Story By: Sheri Berkery, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation invites high schools students from across the state to submit an original social media campaign showing the importance of protecting rare wildlife in New Jersey. The “Species on the Edge 2.0” contest is in its fifth year and sponsored by the PSEG Foundation.
Do you have a teen who loves animals and getting out in nature?
You might want to encourage him or her to spend more time on the phone — at least for one specific project.
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is inviting high school students from across the state to participate in a social-media contest to win scholarship money.
The “Species on the Edge 2.0” Social Media Contest encourages teens to leverage their digital knowledge for the chance to win prizes.
(more…)by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
A pile of abandoned crab pots before being processed at the WeCrab community day.
Through a series of public and private partnerships, and with the help of the local fishing community, CWF is leading a project to inventory and remove more than 1,000 abandoned crab pots in Barnegat Bay. These derelict pots, lost from storms or cut lines, can have devastating impacts on the bay ecosystem and local economy.
A phenomenon referred to as “ghost fishing,” these traps will often continue to catch and kill marine life when abandoned, like the Northern diamondback terrapin and otherwise harvestable crabs. These lost harvests translate to economic losses for fishermen and the local community. The pots also disrupt navigation and damage sensitive ecosystems.
In the first year of our two year project, our partners removed 395 of these abandoned crab pots from the Barnegat Bay watershed, championed by local fisherman RJ Cericola and his crew. Almost 260 other pots were assessed but not recovered.
Abandoned crab pots recovered by Stockton University.
Starting in December 2016, we look forward to working with RJ Cericola, our new partner Jeff Silady — ReClam the Bay boat captain and local fisherman — and bringing on a commercial fisherman to reach our goal of 1,000 abandoned crab pots recovered.
Some of the recovered pots were stored at Stockton University Marine Field Station in Port Republic and were inventoried for data; broken down and recycled by volunteers this past Earth Day.
MATES students collecting data at community day.
Scientists, students, commercial crabbers and other volunteers gathered on April 23rd for the WeCrab Community Day to record data, clean and prep the recovered derelict crab pots for recycling. The WeCrab Marine Debris Project is a partnership between the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve and Stockton University.
Volunteers collected data on condition, cause of loss, weight, among other points. We are working to understand the impacts of abandoned pots and their distribution, gather information on the percentage of pots lost annually and also develop a long-term reporting system for lost pots and other fishing gear. Information collected from recovered pots help aid these efforts.
CWF’s abandoned crab pot removal project is funded by NOAA’s Community-based Marine Debris Removal Grant. We are proud to work with our partners at the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, Monmouth University, Stockton University, ReClam the Bay, and volunteers. Conserve Wildlife Foundation is also working on an outreach campaign to raise awareness on the impacts of derelict crab pots and marine debris with additional funding from the New Jersey Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership.
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Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
© 2019 Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey