Raritan Bay and The New York Bight

Approximately fourteen to eighteen thousand years ago, much of what are now the earth’s oceans existed as polar ice caps. The coast of the Atlantic Ocean was approximately sixty miles south east of what is now Lower New York Harbor.

The Wisconsin Glacier, the northern ice cap, extended as far south as Staten Island. The ice cap deposited the terminal moraine that is now the white, flat, sandy south shore of Long Island and New Jersey.

This was, essentially, the end of the Ice Age. The glacier receded and the resulting recessional moraine created Long Island's rocky north shore.

Long Island Sound was originally a depression left by the receding ice that gradually filled with salt water as the sea level rose.

The boulders and earth that traveled in and upon the glacier settled to earth forming Long Island Sound and the strange islands, reefs and other natural structures that today attract and hold a large variety of game fish.

Around twenty-five hundred years ago, things began melting. Raritan Bay, once a green, fertile valley, began to be covered with advancing seawater. By the time Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, the water level was about 4 feet lower than it is today.

The result was a uniquely fertile eco-system known as the New York Bight.

The New York Bight has been a major source of food for centuries because of its geographic characteristics. A bight is a general term for a natural bend or curve in the shoreline of an open coast. In the New York region it refers to the great expanse of shallow ocean water between Long Island (to the north and east) and the New Jersey Coast (to the south and west).

Long Island reaches east to west in relation to mainland of New Jersey and it creates a right angle in the geometry of the Atlantic coastline. The Hudson River's outer harbor and the Raritan Bay constitute only a fraction of the greater New York Bight region.

Out through the Narrows is Raritan Bay, one of the most productive fishing areas in North America. Raritan Bay is part of the New York Bight, which includes New York Harbor's Lower Bay, the south shore of Long Island, Jamaica Bay and Sandy Hook Bay.

The Raritan Bay sits at the doorstep to the Hudson River estuary system, home to the second largest spawning stock of striped bass on the Atlantic Coast (only Chesapeake Bay holds more).

The Lenape Indians arrived on the east coast seven to ten thousand years ago and began to gather oysters and other shellfish from the edges of the water. They developed seines to catch the many species of fish that inhabited the ocean. Clamshells were used as money or “wampum”.

The natives that rowed out to meet the Verrazano and Hudson expeditions were different generations Lenape Indians. They roamed as nomads between the islands of New York City, to various seasonal camps and shelters where food would be available.

Contained in the fertile and water abundant lands were rich mineral sources that could grow all required nourishment, and the Lenapes were expert not only at farming, but modern necessities as well, including adeptness at cultivation, soil rejuvenation, and knowing where to plant.

Species that were present in the waters include Shad, Atlantic Herring, Spot, Tautog (Blackfish), Atlantic Sturgeon, Bluefish, Mackerel, Flounder, Fluke, Menhaden (Bunker), Porgy, Tommy Cod, Weakfish, Whitefish, Cod, Ling, Skate, and a variety of Shark. Lobster, Blue claw crab, Stone crab, clam, oyster, and a host of other marine species are found in Raritan Bay. Offshore are species of Shark, Tuna, Marlin, Mahi-Mahi and Swordfish.

Oysters and clams were once plentiful in New York Harbor. The Indians returned the used Oyster shells to the beds as a base for future oyster spawn. This is called "culch". The oysters attaching themselves to the culch are called "spat".

Fish figure strongly in the history of the New World. Cod oil and flesh brought the westward moving European fishing fleets to our rich waters in the 1600’s. Boats loaded with salt cod sailed back across the Atlantic to feed a hungry Europe of increasingly depleted resources.

The bay’s proximity to the huge market of New York City has made it an important economic force for the region.

In recent years, Raritan Bay has been reestablished as a prime clamming location. Clammers harvested nearly 80,000 bushels of clams here in 2002, almost half the clams produced in the state.

The state lets clammers harvest here if they "transplant" the clams to cleaner waters before bringing them to market.

They don’t hit your plate until they go through the purification process called a relay. The relay lasts only from April to October, when the clams and oysters are actively pumping.

All harvesting equipment is manual. Many clammers complain of back trouble, but the clams and oysters are worth the trouble.