Money Island, New Jersey facts for kids
Money Island is the smallest and most remote of five rural communities that make up Downe Township in Cumberland County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The road that led to the development of Money Island was constructed in the late 1930s. In the 1940s, the first homes were constructed in the community. The community is located on the shore of the Delaware Bay on the southern side of Nantuxent Creek. Its location may be described as the southwest corner of New Jersey.
Money Island is a low-income community which has been devastated by sea level rise and Hurricane Sandy. Local opinions have been divided regarding participation in the Blue Acres buy-out program, part of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's process of managed retreat.
Money Island remains the second most important seafood landing port in southern New Jersey. The Money Island Marina and more than a dozen seafood harvesters or aquaculture businesses remain, with estimated annual sales of about $20 million. Products include oysters, blue claw crabs, soft-shell crabs, menhaden, conch, eels and horseshoe crabs (for medical research).
As of June 2016 the number of full-time residents had dropped below 20, and fewer than 10 of its original 40+ houses were occupied. A partnership of non-profit organizations—including The Nature Conservancy, BaySave Association, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, and Rutgers University—are engaged in shoreline-stabilization research projects, attempting to arrest the erosion impact of rising waters.
