Oceanport Mayor Jay Coffey was not immediately available for comment.
In a 2014 menhaden fish kill in the Shark River, several tons of menhaden were collected by local public works from Neptune and Belmar, volunteers and even prison inmates. The fish were brought to the Monmouth County landfill in Tinton Falls.
That kill was said to be caused by oxygen deprivation due to low river water levels that were caused in some part by sand deposited by superstorm Sandy that exasperated existing shoaling conditions on the river. The channels have since been dredged.
The menhaden die-off this spring is different. The fish are diseased and the dead fish are appearing in several tributaries of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.