58 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



offshore fishing grounds. These and the less known rocks, so numerous south 

 of Cape Hatteras, have already been mentioned as an obstacle to trawl fish- 

 ing. Further studies of this bottom, such as are now in progress, may lead to 

 the day when fishermen can work these areas, locating right over them when 

 desired, circling the edges at will, or fishing well clear of them for still other 

 purposes. 



The bottoms in the sounds have been referred to repeatedly in published 

 reports on oysters because the production of these shellfish is so dependent 

 on a favorable firm substratum. Throughout, the bottom is either sand, mud, 

 or a mixture of the two, and there is little or no actual rock.-'' Table g gives 

 the area of different bottom compositions as determined by Winslow (1889). 

 Winslow and other authors have reported the potential oyster-growing areas 

 but changes due to depletion, shifting of sands, and silting make such 

 accounts unreliable today. 



Pollution 



Pollution of North Carolina's marine waters is restricted to a few local 

 situations mostly in the vicinity of towns and cities where toilet sewage, and 

 in a few instances industrial sewage, is either untreated or inadequately 

 handled. Much information relative to pollution sources is given in the study 

 of "The Extent of Stream Pollution in North Carolina" by Stiemke (1947) ; 

 however, as a summary of the marine waters most affected by pollution, 

 reference is made to the areas which the State Board of Health has closed to 

 the harvesting of oysters. As of April 12, 1949, the following eight areas, 

 totaling about 27,000 acres, were on this restricted list: -^ 



Core Sound at Atlantic 312 acres 



Morehead City — Beaufort Area 3-95° acres 



Oyster Creek at Bogue 107 acres 



White Oak River at Swansboro 490 acres 



New River at Marine Base 290 acres 



Stump Sound at King Creek 122 acres 



Wrightsville area 1,800 acres 



Myrtle Sound 20,000 acres 



Much of the sewage of these regions is toilet discharge, endangering human 

 health. Among the dangers is the threat that typhoid fever will be spread 

 by eating oysters contaminated by human fecal bacteria. Many of the above- 

 mentioned areas are at the sites of military establishments where the situa- 

 tion should improve under postwar conditions ; however, localities now under 

 suspicion may more than offset the improved areas. 



26. Oyster bars are often referred to as rocks though they are essentially accumulations of 

 shells compacted to varying degrees over a firm substratum of the sandy consistency mentioned. 



27. Exact descriptions of these localities are issued by the State Board of Health. 



