Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve
Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve Logo

Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve

Reserve Information

Designated

1998

Lead Agency

Rutgers University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Scenes
(Visit Site)

Protects

116,116 acres

Located

Eight miles southeast of exit 58 off the Garden State Parkway, in Tuckerton, New Jersey

Additional Information

Habitats found here include a great variety of terrestrial, wetland, and aquatic natural resources, with research studies focused on finfish and striped bass.

Biogeographic Region

Virginian

Tidal Range

1.0 meters

About This Reserve

This reserve is the only one in the system to be named after an individual. The Jacques Cousteau Reserve is a concentrated patchwork of federal and state lands which include a great variety of terrestrial, wetland, and aquatic habitats located within the New Jersey Pinelands forest ecosystem and on the coastal plain and the barrier islands of the Mullica River-Great Bay. With little more than one percent of the reserve subjected to human development, this area is regarded as one of the least disturbed estuaries in the densely populated urban corridor of the Northeastern United States.

The Jacques Cousteau Reserve is one of 30 areas in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System that is protected for long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education, and coastal stewardship. Daily management of the site is led by Rutgers University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, with local partners. NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management provides funding, national guidance, and technical assistance.

Reserve Location and Boundaries