{"id":12698,"date":"2020-07-23T09:12:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T13:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=12698"},"modified":"2020-07-23T09:12:51","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T13:12:51","slug":"spat-on-shell-demonstration-project-will-benefit-oyster-harvests-and-coastal-ecosystems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/spat-on-shell-demonstration-project-will-benefit-oyster-harvests-and-coastal-ecosystems\/","title":{"rendered":"Spat-On-Shell Demonstration Project Will Benefit Oyster Harvests and Coastal Ecosystems"},"content":{"rendered":"

DO NOT POST–FOR REFERENCE ONLY
\n(POST MOVED TO CURRENTS)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contact:<\/strong>
\nKatie Mosher, kmosher@ncsu.edu<\/a><\/em>
\nFrank L\u00f3pez, fmlopez@ncsu.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n
North Carolina Sea Grant, the\u00a0North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and industry collaborators have joined forces on a new project to produce and deploy \u201cspat-on-shell\u201d to restore wild oyster populations for future harvest.<\/section>\n

The project team has had two deployments this summer.\u00a0 Jarrett Bay, off the Core Sound, was the initial spat-on-shell deployment site, followed by a site in North River. A deployment also is scheduled for the Newport River in spring of 2021.<\/p>\n

\"Small
The project\u2019s first deployments of \u201cspat-on shell\u201d was in mid-June. Small brown ovals are juvenile oysters that have set on an old oyster shell. All photos courtesy of John Lambeth (NCFBF).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cRecent storms like Hurricane Florence have impacted wild oyster populations,\u201d says Frank L\u00f3pez, extension director for North Carolina Sea Grant. \u201cSpat-on-shell culturing allows oysters to be started as larvae in a nursery setting. As the larvae permanently attach to oyster shell in climate-controlled tanks, they are known as \u2018spat.\u2019 The spat-on-shell then can be deployed in sounds. The spat grow into adult oysters in this natural setting \u2014 and can form dense oyster beds over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez credits Debbie Hamrick, director of specialty crops for the N.C. Farm Bureau Federation and an advisory board member for Sea Grant, with helping to initiate the collaborative demonstration project.<\/p>\n

\u201cOysters are an important fishery for North Carolina\u2019s working watermen. During winter months, wild harvested oysters provide needed income to support coastal fishing families, while providing tasty, healthy local food to seafood markets,\u201d Hamrick says. \u201cHelping commercial fishermen recover from Hurricane Florence through boosting North Carolina\u2019s oyster fishery is a great use of some of our hurricane relief funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez also notes that support from the North Carolina Commercial Fishing Resource Fund was invaluable. Dispersion of the fund\u2019s monies falls under\u00a0the Marine Fisheries Commission\u2019s Commercial Resource\u00a0Fund Committee\u00a0and the\u00a0Funding Committee for the N.C. Commercial Fishing Resource\u00a0Fund. The fund matched another grant from the N.C. Farm Bureau.<\/p>\n

Susan Hill, owner of Down East Mariculture in Williston, is serving as the commercial nursery partner. \u201cSusan is investing in the coastal economy by repurposing \u2018Elmer\u2019s Old Clamhouse\u2019 in Williston as a commercial shellfish nursery,\u201d Hamrick notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not every day that a native daughter returns home to give back to the community in a way that builds the economy for the future. She\u2019s dedicated hours and days to ensure that the oysters we place in North Carolina\u2019s waters are healthy, acclimatized, and have multiple spat attached. Her focus on the art and science of shellfish production and her dedication to assisting North Carolina\u2019s commercial fishing community is unparralled,\u201d Hamrick adds.<\/p>\n

The project will bring environmental benefits, too. N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries representatives and commercial fishermen are collaborating to identify suitable sites, L\u00f3pez explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do oysters provide economic benefits as an important fishery, they also provide many ecosystem services such as water filtration, shoreline stabilization, and habitat for different fish and other marine life,\u201d says Jacob Boyd, habitat and enhancement section chief for the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe division approaches shellfish rehabilitation by building strategically placed oyster sanctuaries, which are protected from harvest, and also constructing these open-access \u2018cultch planting\u2019 areas to function more like natural reefs,\u201d Boyd explains. “Our complimentary oyster reef-building efforts combine to create important habitat in our estuaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The value of the project also includes the strong collaborations to complete each deployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s been great to see the fishing industry, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, N.C. Farm Bureau, and N.C. Sea Grant working together on a project that has the potential to produce real economic and ecological benefits to eastern North Carolina,\u201d says Glenn Skinner, executive director of the N.C. Fisheries Association. \u201cI’m proud to say the fishermen have really stepped up to make this project a reality. Without their hard work, none of this would be possible.”<\/p>\n

In addition to the project participants, community volunteers have been helping Hill in the oyster nursery located in Carteret County\u2019s Down East region.<\/p>\n

\"North
North Carolina Sea Grant, the NC Farm Bureau, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and industry collaborators have joined forces to produce and deploy \u201cspat-on-shell\u201d across three acres this year. The project launched on Jarrett Bay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For more information about this project, contact Frank L\u00f3pez:\u00a0<\/b>fmlopez@ncsu.edu<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new project to produce and deploy \u201cspat-on-shell\u201d will restore wild oyster populations for future harvest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1405,1406],"tags":[342,336,341,335,343,340,337,24,226,122,275,15,338,333,334,344,339],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-12698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecosystems","category-seafood","tag-debbie-hamrick","tag-division-of-marine-fisheries","tag-down-east-mariculture","tag-farm-bureau","tag-frank-lopez","tag-habitat","tag-n-c-fisheries-association","tag-north-carolina-sea-grant","tag-oyster","tag-oyster-growers","tag-oyster-restoration","tag-sea-grant","tag-shoreline-stabilization","tag-spat","tag-spat-on-shell","tag-susan-hill","tag-water-filtration"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpat-On-Shell Demonstration Project Will Benefit Oyster Harvests and Coastal Ecosystems - 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