South Atlantic 



landings of two offshore species, 

 blood arc and whelk. Figure 8 shows 

 landings in millions of pounds of 

 meats for the principal harvested 

 species for the four states in the 

 region. 



Landings by Major Bays. 



Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds is the 

 largest oyster-producing estuary in the 

 South Atlantic region, and historically 

 has been the source of 60 percent of 

 all landings in North Carolina. Land- 

 ings peaked at 1 .4 million pounds in 

 1987 and declined to 530,000 pounds 

 in 1989, due in part to MSX and 

 Dermo. This suggests that the 

 estuarine salinities varied abnormally 

 during this period. Although the 

 classifications of shellfish-growing 

 waters did not change significantly, 

 North Carolina expanded sampling 

 because of rapidly expanding devel- 

 opment. 



In 1985, South Carolina's Charleston 

 Harbor, St. Helena Sound, and Broad 

 River estuaries combined to produce 

 over 745,000 pounds of oysters, but 

 only 75,000 pounds were landed in 

 1989. Like Albemarle/Pamlico 

 Sounds, these estuaries were affected 

 by MSX and Dermo, as well as red 

 tide blooms from the dinoflagellate 

 Ptychodiscus brevis. The decline also 

 was influenced by over-harvesting and 

 the net loss of 9,000 acres of ap- 

 proved shellfish-growing waters. 



The Indian River estuary produced the 

 largest landings of clams and scallops 

 (calico) in the region, and nearly all 

 landings of these species for the 

 Atlantic coast of Florida. Clam 



landings for this estuary declined from 

 1 .5 million pounds in 1985 to 306,000 

 pounds in 1989, due primarily to over- 

 harvesting. Also, conditionally ap- 

 proved waters increased by 26,000 

 acres and restricted waters by 57,000 

 acres. 



Landings by State. In North Caro- 

 lina, oyster landings declined from 

 545,000 pounds in 1985 to 530,000 

 pounds in 1989, as a result of MSX, 

 Dermo, and red tide bloom effects. 

 Clam landings remained constant at 

 1 .3 million pounds, while scallop 

 landings declined from 456,000 

 pounds to 84,000 pounds. Three of 

 the State's six estuaries had declines 

 in approved shellfish-growing waters 

 and three had increases. Four of the 

 six had increases in conditionally 

 approved waters. Consequently, the 

 major reasons for declines were 

 disease, over-harvesting, and habitat 

 loss. Several new clam hatcheries 

 have begun operations, and the State 

 revised its leasing program in support 

 of aquaculture initiatives. In Septem- 

 ber 1 987, a bloom of the toxic di- 

 noflagellate Ptychodiscus brevis 

 occurred. The State closed 361 ,000 

 acres of shellfish-growing waters for 

 three months between Cape Hatteras 

 and the South Carolina border (48 

 percent of the State's oyster beds). 

 The economic loss was estimated to 

 be $3.5 million. Most of the affected 

 areas were re-opened within three 

 months. 



Like many Atlantic Coast states, 

 South Carolina's oyster industry has 

 been damaged severely by a combi- 

 nation of over-harvesting, disease, 



31 



