| Oysters in coastal North Carolina
Going into 2022, the oyster industry in North Carolina looked promising. Based on NCDEQ reports, oyster harvest numbers were at an all time high in 2021, with 232,016 bushels being collected by commercial fishers that year, and harvests seems to be continually growing. However, those who have oyster farms know the statewide trends aren’t always representative of individual farms and see first hand how variable harvest numbers can be year to year.
The summer of 2022 was hard for oyster farmers. Shellfish growers throughout coastal NC experienced multiple die-off events that spanned from southern Onslow through northern Carteret Counties. Farmed oysters seemed to be more impacted than wild populations and some sites lost up to 90% of their oysters.
“What was unique about this year, is the geographic scope — and that across a large area, mortality events within individual estuaries all seemed to happen at the same time.” – Dr. Tal Ben-Horin, North Carolina State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology’s Shellfish Pathology Laboratory
The heat and salinity in the summer seasons usually leads to some oyster mortality, but 2022 was more hot and dry than usual. The drought conditions being felt throughout the state led to less rain and higher salt levels in coastal waters. Oysters are sensitive to their environment. Water temperature, clarity and salinity, as well as pathogens and algae are some of the factors that can influence an oysters survivability and, in many places, waters can be stressed by multiple of these different factors that cause poor water quality. Because there are so many factors that influence oyster health, it can be difficult to identify what exactly causes a mortality event.
In September of 2022, CCRW responded to an algae bloom in the New River that could be seen from Stones Bay all the way down to Chadwicks Bay. This species hadn’t been seen before in this area but was known to harm shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay. Many shellfish farmers came to us reporting die-offs but even after investigating and working with research labs, we were unable to definitively know how this bloom impacted local oyster populations. |
Coastinista 