MIDDLETOWN — For the seafaring members of the Belford Seafood Cooperative, a dredging project that will deepen channels in two local waterways will mean an end to waiting hours to bring in their catch.

“Right now, the boats transit the area only at high tide. When it’s low tide, there is no water,” said Joe Branin, general manager of the local cooperative for commercial fishermen.

“The dredging will give us 10 to 12 feet of water in low tide and allow transit. I have had boats get stuck out in the bay because of low tide for 10 hours, waiting to get back in.”

The Belford Seafood Cooperative is located at the end of Port Monmouth Road along Compton Creek — one of two waterways being dredged during a project designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE). Both empty into Sandy Hook Bay.

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