Philadelphia’s rivers and creeks are becoming more important than ever as summers grow hotter and longer. From Bartram’s Garden to Pennypack Creek, people across the city rely on these waterways for recreation, shade, and relief from extreme heat. But pollution from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) makes the water unsafe after storms, limiting where people can safely enjoy the outdoors. As the city faces more intense rainfall and rising temperatures, clean rivers are essential for public health, recreation, and climate resilience. 

Philadelphia has an older sewer system that mixes stormwater and sewage in the same pipes. When heavy rain hits, the system overflows and sends untreated wastewater into rivers and creeks. These events cause bacteria levels to spike, making the water unsafe for activities like paddling, wading, or cooling off along the shoreline. At the same time, extreme heat is one of the city’s most dangerous weather hazards, and access to cool water and shaded green space can reduce health risks for thousands of residents. 

This challenge affects families across the city, especially those who depend on local rivers and creeks for recreation and relief. Neighborhoods without easy access to pools or air‑conditioned spaces rely even more on outdoor areas near water. If Philadelphia doesn’t address CSO pollution, residents will have fewer safe places to cool off during heat waves, fewer recreational opportunities, and greater public health risks. Cleaner water would create healthier communities, stronger ecosystems, and more equitable access to nature. 

Local parks already show what’s possible. Bartram’s Garden offers free boating and fishing programs on the tidal Schuylkill, giving Southwest Philadelphia families a chance to get on the water. Pennypack Creek provides miles of shaded trails and fishing spots that stay cooler than surrounding neighborhoods. These spaces are vital community assets and cleaner water would expand what they can offer.  

Philadelphia is not alone in facing this challenge. Chicago once struggled with severe river pollution and frequent CSO events. Over the past two decades, the city invested heavily in sewer modernization, stormwater tunnels, and water quality improvements. Today, people swim in the Chicago River during organized events, and riverfront recreation has become a major part of city life. Chicago’s progress shows that cleaning up urban waterways is possible—and transformative. 

Philadelphia can follow that example. By supporting efforts to reduce CSO pollution and improve water quality, residents can help shape a future where rivers and creeks are safe, vibrant places to gather, cool off, and connect with nature. 
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This work builds on ongoing efforts to improve stormwater management, expand access to riverfront parks, and strengthen community connections to local waterways. Cleaner rivers support our mission to create healthy communities, protect natural spaces, and ensure everyone has access to safe outdoor recreation especially as the climate continues to change. As one resident said, clean water is “a necessity for life...so it’s up to us to take care of it.” ​

This spring and summer, the American Littoral Society partnered with the national park service for our second consecutive year of the Junior Ranger Angler Program. This program brings children’s age 10 to 16 out to Gateway National Recreation Area, Sandy Hook. Each session runs approximately three hours and has a maximum of twelve attendees. 

​The clinic starts with a quick safety and overview presentation at the American Littoral Society office. Junior anglers learn about different hazards of the beach, including waves, tides, and rip currents. Fishing safety is covered to ensure fish are handled carefully and no fingers get bitten… we give a quick overview of some basic marine biology and the importance of keeping our ecosystem healthy. 

​After the presentation we go outside to do a casting lesson. To ensure that every junior angler has the fundamental idea of how to cast a spinning rod and reel. All levels of experience are accepted. We are more than happy to teach somebody for the very first time.

The remainder of the clinic is spent on the beach catching fish. Each Junior Angler is provided their own rod and reel. We also provide hooks, weights and bait. Spread along the beach each junior angler enjoys their time casting and being outside. Much of the summer we have been catching summer flounder, clear nose skates, dogfish, and bluefish. Lots of support from myself, our fish tagging program intern Maggie, the Restoration Corps crew, the National Park Service Rangers, and park service volunteers Chris and Kay. 

​​The American Littoral Society is home to the largest and longest running volunteer fishing program in the nation. We bring that fish tag program to this event and tag all the fish that are caught. It is a fantastic way to instruct kids about fishing, get them outside and give them a window into the world of marine science.

​Many college students choose environmental majors because they want to get out of the office and into the world around them. They want to get their hands dirty, see the impact of their work, and make a real difference. Getting that hands-on experience, however, is not always easy, especially for community college students. Unlike 4-year universities, many community colleges do not offer consistent, in-the-field experiential learning opportunities for students. Most opportunities that are offered are outside of class time and costly, forcing many students to spend their free time and money to gain career experience outside of school while balancing other responsibilities.

Careers in environmental science require skills. Students need to be provided with opportunities to practice techniques, use technology and equipment, and problem solve in the field. Through this new initiative, students will have the opportunity to use field equipment and technology, visit an active habitat restoration site, and participate in a real environmental survey, all while completing their college courses. This program will bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world coastal conservation.
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Coastal Conservation in Action is about making sure that hands-on experience is not limited to those who have the time and resources to seek it out on their own. By bringing field work directly to the class, we can give community college students the place to build practical skills, gain confidence, and see what a career in environmental science could look like. Our goal is not only to have students leave with the knowledge they need, but the experience, confidence, and connections that prepare them for future roles in the environmental field. 

Example Field Experiences
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Choose from one of our existing field experiences or work with us to create an activity specifically for your course and your students.

• Coastal Field Techniques: A crash course on environmental field equipment and technology, followed by the opportunity to put it to use at a habitat restoration site!
• Oyster Reef Biological Assessments: Take a trip to one of our active restoration sites and measure oyster growth, conduct quadrat sampling to assess biodiversity, and measure water quality.
• Beach & Marsh Restoration Survey: Conduct pre-restoration monitoring to learn how to select sites for habitat restoration. Learn how to conduct a vegetation survey, sand grain size analysis, and use “blue technology” to assess the baseline site condition.
• Dune Grass Planting: Learn about the coastal dune system and visit one of the Littoral Society’s restoration sites to contribute to a real restoration initiative that helps preserve the ecosystem.

To learn more about this program and how to get your students involved,

Contact Michelle Rebilas, Director of Education

​michelle@littoralsociety.org       

On August 24, the Society worked with NJDEP and Monmouth County to organize a tour of the Shark River watershed as part of New Jersey Flood Safety Week. The tour brought decision-makers into the field to see where flooding is occurring, hear directly from communities, and explore how restoration and nature-based solutions can become part of a larger regional resilience strategy.

Participants included a broad group of public leaders, including Belmar Mayor Caitlin Donovan, Avon-by-the-Sea Mayor Ed Bonanno, Wall Township Mayor Erin Mangan, Monmouth County Commissioner Erik Anderson, Assemblywomen Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul, and staff representing U.S. Senator Cory Booker and Congressmen Frank Pallone and Chris Smith.

They joined NJDEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak, Chief Resilience Officer Nick Angarone, municipal officials from all five Shark River communities, and regional partners to see flooding concerns and restoration opportunities firsthand.
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Having local, county, state, and federal leaders together created an important opportunity to compare priorities across municipal boundaries and discuss the funding, policy, and agency coordination needed to move resilience projects forward.

​Seeing Solutions on the Ground

During the tour, Society staff shared both the history of the Shark River and examples of what resilience can look like on the ground.

Executive Director Danielle McCulloch discussed how oyster reefs, sandy shorelines, marshes, and other natural features historically helped buffer the watershed and how communities can move from isolated projects toward a more coordinated regional strategy that uses dredged sediments, community participation, and innovative tactics and partnerships.

At the South Riverside Living Shoreline in Neptune Township, Restoration staff Zack Royle and Julie Schumacher showed how sediment placement, planted berms, dunes, and native vegetation can stabilize shoreline, restore habitat, and help protect South Riverside Drive and nearby homes.

Zack discussed the opportunity to work with NJDOT to use clean dredged sediment more strategically throughout the watershed. Julie highlighted another essential part of successful restoration: long-term community relationships and trust, including the Society’s partnership with the Shark River Cleanup Coalition and local leaders.
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The site illustrates a central principle of our work: projects can provide benefits for both people and wildlife when restoration and community resilience are planned together.

​Bringing the Watershed Together

As Commissioner Ed Potasnak emphasized, flooding does not stop at municipal borders. Neither can resilience planning.

Capt. Al Modjeski and other Society staff helped reconvene the Shark River Environmental Roundtable to bring Avon-by-the-Sea, Belmar, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Wall Township, Monmouth County, state agencies, scientists, and community organizations around the same table.

The Roundtable gives municipal leaders a place to identify shared challenges and pursue solutions that may be difficult for any one community to tackle alone. Those conversations helped create the foundation for the regional work now advancing through Monmouth County and the Resilient NJ Municipal Assistance Program, with partners including Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute.

​Our role is often to connect the pieces: local priorities, restoration expertise and experience, community voices, agency expertise, funding opportunities, and partners who can help move good ideas toward implementation.

The Flood Safety Week tour grew from that work. Society staff helped NJDEP and Monmouth County shape the route, coordinate municipalities and agencies, invite elected officials, and select sites that showed both the challenges communities face and the solutions already taking shape.

​Turning Dredged Sediment into a Resource

One of the most promising opportunities in Shark River is finding better uses for clean sediment already being removed from navigation channels.

The Society, Monmouth County, Shark River communities, and other partners are working with NJDOT’s Office of Maritime Resources to better connect routine navigation dredging with shoreline and habitat restoration.

Instead of treating dredging and resilience as separate issues, suitable sediment could be used to rebuild marshes and beaches, stabilize eroding shorelines, create protective shoals and islands, and support living shorelines and other nature-based projects.

The longer-term goal is to connect future dredging cycles with restoration needs across the watershed treating sediment as a resource and using public investments in navigation to produce additional benefits for habitat and community resilience.

The Society is pursuing additional funding to create a watershed-wide Coastal Resilience and Beneficial Use Plan for Shark River. The proposed work would evaluate flooding, shoreline change, habitat, dredging cycles, sediment resources, navigation needs, and community priorities. The team would identify potential restoration and sediment-placement sites and advance priority locations toward conceptual design.

Potential projects could include marsh restoration, living shorelines, bay beach restoration, strategic sediment placement, marsh islands, shellfish habitat, and other natural and nature-based approaches. Municipal officials, residents, businesses, marinas, agencies, and community organizations would help determine which projects rise to the top.
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The goal is to identify the problems, agree on priorities, develop projects, line up sediment and funding, and move toward design and on-the-ground construction.

Resilience Also Requires Better Rules

Building resilience also means prioritizing policies to support safer communities.
While New Jersey is spending significant public resources to address flooding that already exists the state also needs to ensure that new development does not create tomorrow’s flood problems using yesterday’s assumptions.

That is why the NJPACT REAL rules are an important part of this conversation. The rules update New Jersey’s flood, coastal, stormwater, and wetlands standards to better account for future sea-level rise, heavier rainfall, and changing flood conditions. Infrastructure and development being built today should be designed for the conditions they are likely to experience over their useful lives. Designing for future conditions can help reduce avoidable flood damage and the long-term costs borne by homeowners, communities, and taxpayers.

The REAL rules were adopted January 20, 2026, but DEP is currently considering an extension of the period during which qualifying projects can continue under the older standards. That extension proposal is still listed as pending adoption.
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For communities like those surrounding Shark River, resilience requires investing in solutions for existing vulnerabilities while adopting strong, science-based standards that avoid creating new ones.

The Work Behind the Projects

Much of resilience work happens long before construction begins.

It starts with bringing communities together, building trust, coordinating with agencies, finding technical partners, pursuing funding, navigating permitting, and continuing to move good projects forward when the path is complicated.

The Society does not do that work alone. Progress in Shark River is possible because municipal leaders, residents, state and county agencies, scientists, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, and many other partners continue to show up and work together.

Support for the American Littoral Society helps us play a connective role in that process: staying at the table, bringing decades of restoration experience to the conversation, and helping turn community priorities into projects that can make a difference on the ground.

A more resilient Shark River will not come from one tour, one grant, one rule, or one organization. It will come from people and institutions working toward a shared vision and then doing the difficult work of turning that vision into action over the long term.
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That is the work we intend to keep doing.

​In the News

• Severe storms lead to flooding in parts of New Jersey — ABC7 New York
• Can recreating nature in the Shark River stop pollution and flooding? — Asbury Park Press
• Rehabilitating the Shark River — Asbury Park Press

​Bunker Feed the Coast
 
Have you ever seen a patch of rippling ocean that looks like wind moving across the water? Or a flock of birds circling and diving in one place? You may have been watching a school of bunker.
 
Atlantic menhaden, also known as bunker, are schooling fish that fuel our coastal food web.

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​Why Industrial Harvest Deserves Scrutiny
 
Menhaden support two commercial fisheries. The bait fishery supplies anglers, crabbers, and lobster fishermen. The much larger industrial “reduction” fishery turns menhaden into fishmeal and oil used in products such as animal feed and supplements. The Atlantic Coast’s only remaining menhaden reduction plant is Omega Protein’s facility in Reedville, Virginia. According to ASMFC documents, this single company harvests about 67% of the entire coastwide quota. The size and concentration of this industrial harvest have led many groups to call for an end to the reduction fishery.
 
This November, ASMFC will consider new restrictions because such concentrated harvest may leave fewer menhaden for predators and other fishermen.

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​Why the Reduction Fishery Quota Should Be Lowered
 
The latest stock assessment found that scientists had overestimated the menhaden population by an average of 37%. In other words, there were fewer fish than managers thought. Because catch limits were set using that inflated estimate, managers should now reduce fishing pressure and leave more menhaden in the water for the predators that depend on them.
 
ASMFC created an ecological reference point, or ERP, to limit fishing pressure and leave enough menhaden as food for predators, especially striped bass. Yet when managers set the 2026 catch limit, their projections showed a 100% chance that fishing pressure would exceed the ERP target. Although the Board recognized the need for a substantial cut, it chose a higher quota because of concerns about making a large economic change in one year. As a result, managers knowingly adopted a catch limit that was projected to miss their own ecosystem goal.
 
Ospreys provide another warning sign. Observations along the coast have documented declining reproductive success. Research published this year found widespread breeding problems among Chesapeake Bay ospreys and identified reduced menhaden availability as a likely primary cause.
 
Taken together, this evidence supports limits on industrial harvest while maintaining a sustainable bait fishery.

​Two decisions must work together to leave more menhaden in the water.
 
1. Protect menhaden in Chesapeake Bay. The Bay is an important nursery for young menhaden. As these fish migrate, they help feed coastal waters from New Jersey and New York to other parts of the Atlantic Coast.
Draft Addendum II would set how many menhaden the reduction fishery may catch in Chesapeake Bay and when that fishing may occur. We support cutting the Bay’s reduction-fishery cap by at least 50%, spreading the allowed catch more evenly across the season, and reviewing the cap at least once every three years. We also support keeping a separate limit for Chesapeake Bay instead of automatically tying it to the coastwide quota.
 
2. Reduce total catch along the entire coast. We support lowering the coastwide total allowable catch, or TAC, to match the updated science. The revised assessment found that the average estimate of menhaden biomass (the total weight of fish in the population) was 37% lower than previously believed. This means managers had been setting catch limits based on an inflated estimate of how many fish were available.
 
ASMFC established an ecological reference point, or ERP, target for fishing pressure to account for menhaden’s role as food, particularly for striped bass. Yet when managers set the 2026 catch limit, their projections showed a 100% probability that fishing pressure would exceed that target. The Board chose a larger quota, citing concerns about the economic effects of a substantial cut in one year. Managers knowingly adopted a limit projected to fall short of their own ecosystem goal.
 
A year has passed, and managers now have an opportunity to correct that decision. We support cutting the coastwide catch limit by more than 50% from the 2026 level. We also urge managers to choose a limit with a better-than-even chance of meeting ASMFC’s ecosystem target.

​Speak up by October 9
You do not need to be a fisheries expert to participate. Tell managers why healthy coastal waters matter to you.
 

• Send a comment: Email comments@asmfc.org with the subject “Atlantic Menhaden Draft Addendum II and 2027–2029 Catch Limits.” Include your name, your state, your personal connection to the issue, and why stronger protections matter to you. Ask managers to cut the Bay’s industrial harvest cap by at least 50%, spread the allowed harvest more evenly across the season, and make a substantial coastwide catch reduction that meets ASMFC’s ecosystem target.

 

• Use the survey: Follow ASMFC’s public-comment instructions and ASGA’s option-by-option guide can help you understand the choices before you respond.

 
Submit your comments by the October 9, 2026, the deadline for public input on Addendum II.
 
More bunker in the water means more food for the coast we love. Help us make that the priority this November.

Hi, I’m Derick and I am a Restoration Corp Crew Member here at the American Littoral Society. I am stationed at the office in South Jersey over in Millville. I have worked here for 3 years now. This little blog blurb will teach you all about rain gardens and why they’re so important. ​

Outflow at Frankford Bridge in Pennypack

Currently, the City is on track to reduce sewage pollution down to 7 billion gallons per year by 2036. We think that they can do better. Many other Cities, like Chicago and Portland, have found ways to cut sewage pollution down to close to zero. Even New York City has successfully implemented a series of underground storage tunnels and treatment plant upgrades to help reduce sewage pollution - they haven’t completely solved the problem, but the City at least acknowledges that they still have a long way to go.

​Solutions to this problem exist, and are not new or novel. What’s missing is the willingness of PWD to implement said solutions. The American Littoral Society is actively working to hole PWD accountable for a clean Delaware River. We are also researching solutions and funding methods to help move this issue forward. Stay engaged with us to keep learning about this issue and what you can do to help! ​

I am now working on a project that I'm calling called EcoBulletin. The idea is simple: a lot of information about environmental issues and local decisions is technically available to the public, but it’s often buried in lengthy documents or written in complicated language. I’m exploring a way to make this information easier for the average person to understand through short, approximately five-minute community updates.
Before I build the project further, I’m conducting a short survey to learn what people in South Jersey actually want to know about their communities and how they currently get this information.

The survey takes approximately 2 minutes to complete. If you are in South Jersey, please fill out the survey here and follow the Instagram page.

I have always had an overwhelming love for the environment, which is what led me to study Environmental Science in college. During my final year at Rowan, I developed a strong interest in conservation and restoration, but at the time, I wasn’t sure what a career in the field could actually look like. So, I applied to the Restoration Corps partly because I was frantically applying to jobs after graduation, but more importantly, I wanted an opportunity to keep learning.

Double majoring in college gave me so many incredible opportunities, but I often felt like I was missing the hands-on experience that some of my peers were gaining. I wanted to take what I had learned in the classroom and actually apply it in the field. Ironically, during college, I didn’t always enjoy fieldwork. Spending a February day knee-deep in muck in the Pine Barrens after a snowstorm wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. I didn’t like being covered in mud, and I especially hated having wet socks.

Before I knew, without realizing it, I had started to associate my dislike of certain field sites with a dislike of fieldwork itself. Then came my first day with the Restoration Corps.

​We were conducting a survey that involved climbing onto breakwater structures at Bay Point. At one point, I lost my footing and, rather gracefully, fell straight in—completely flooding my waders. Normally, I would have been miserable but instead, I laughed. That moment completely changed my perspective. I realized that I didn’t actually dislike fieldwork, I simply hadn’t found the ecosystem that I was drawn to yet. Being out on the water, working with marine species, and seeing restoration happen firsthand made me realize how much I enjoyed this kind of work. For the first time, I could genuinely picture myself building a career around it. 

Throughout my time with the Restoration Corps, I had the opportunity to participate in a variety of projects that allowed me to explore different sides of restoration and conservation. I worked on habitat restoration projects, including maintaining rain gardens by removing invasive and overgrown species and planting native plants. These native species help improve the rain gardens’ ability to filter stormwater and support the recharge of groundwater. Getting my hands dirty, this time willingly, gave me a better understanding of how relatively small restoration projects can contribute to larger environmental goals. A major part of my experience involved working directly with marine and coastal species. I assisted volunteers with tagging horseshoe crabs, conducted impingement surveys, and helped safely remove horseshoe crabs from rocks. I also participated in quadrat surveys to monitor crab populations. Beyond horseshoe crabs, I assisted with marsh surveys and oyster surveys, helping monitor mussels and oysters growing along restoration structures. These experiences gave me the opportunity to see marine restoration in action and helped me discover just how much I enjoy working with marine ecosystems and wildlife. 

Restoration isn’t just about the work happening in the field. It is also about the people who live in and interact with these ecosystems. Through volunteer events and public education programs, I had the opportunity to work with community members and help inspire people to take action for their local environment. These experiences taught me that conservation depends on more than science. It also requires communication, education, and people who are willing to care about and protect the places around them.

The Restoration Corps also helped me grow professionally. I strengthened my teamwork and leadership skills and became more comfortable taking initiative when situations required it. I learned how to assess field conditions, recognize when an environment may be unsafe, and make decisions based on those observations. Most importantly, I became more confident in my ability to contribute to a professional conservation team. 

Before joining the Restoration Corps, I was genuinely nervous about life after graduation. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to turn the things I was passionate about into a career. I knew I loved the environment, but I wasn’t sure where that passion could take me. As my time with the Restoration Corps comes to an end, I have realized that there are countless career opportunities in restoration and conservation. More importantly, I discovered something about myself: I have a huge passion for marine ecosystems and wildlife. This experience showed me that conservation isn’t just something I can be interested in, but rather it is something I can build a future around. 

The Restoration Corps also strengthened my confidence and helped me recognize that I am capable of pursuing a career in conservation. It showed me the importance of taking initiative, continuing to learn, and being willing to try something new, even when I’m not sure where it will lead. I also leave this experience with a stronger dedication to inspiring action within the communities around me. Protecting our environment requires people to care, and I want to be someone who helps create that connection between people and the ecosystems they depend on. 

​Looking back, I never expected a job that started with me frantically applying for opportunities after graduation, and falling into the water on my first day, to have such a meaningful impact on my future. I’m incredibly grateful for the people, experiences, and lessons that the Restoration Corps has given me, and I’m excited to see where this newfound passion for marine conservation takes me next.