REGULATING SHELLFISH 

 WATERS 



Corridore's analysis examines the 

 roles of various agencies. The U.S. 

 Environmental Protection Agency adminis- 

 ters the Clean Water Act and requires 

 states to develop a Nonpoint Source 

 Management Program (NPSMP). Shellfish 

 management then becomes an alphabet 

 soup of agencies. 



To simplify, managing shellfishing 

 waters involves three arenas — public 

 health, the environment and coastal 

 development. To ensure public health, the 

 Shellfish Sanitation Section of the N.C. 

 Division of Environmental Health (DEH) 

 classifies and tests shellfishing waters. It 

 makes recommendations to the DMF, 

 which issues proclamations and enforces 

 closures. 



The N.C. Coastal Resources 

 Commission (CRC) designates Areas of 

 Environmental Concern and establishes 

 regulations to control development. The 

 state's Division of Coastal Management 

 (DCM) implements the regulations and 

 issues permits for development within the 

 sensitive areas. 



One way the CRC protects 

 shellfishing waters is by requiring a 30-foot 

 buffer zone for building along estuarine 

 shorelines. 



Dave Beresoff, a commercial fishing 

 representative on the commission, cites a 

 move last fall to protect shellfishing waters 

 even while compromising with builders to 

 allow isolated exceptions to the buffer rule. 



"We initiated an exception to the 

 exception. If the commission makes 

 exceptions to the rules, they should never 

 apply to shellfishing waters," he says. 



The N.C. Division of Water Quality 

 (DWQ) coordinates the NPSMP and water 

 quality regulations of the Clean Water Act. 

 Corridore points to a lack of coordination 

 between agencies in the past. 



Fortunately, McNutt says, a project is 

 underway to help interagency communica- 

 tion through a shared database. "It's a 

 multi-user approach," he says. "It will 

 include information from DEH and will be 

 used heavily by DWQ and Marine 

 Fisheries." 



Gloria Putnam, the state's coastal 



nonpoint source program coordinator, says 

 the program is providing funds for high-tech 

 equipment to allow state agencies to map 

 the closure lines. "That information will be 

 entered into the database, along with DEH 

 water quality monitoring data," she says. 



The data will allow the tracking of 

 trends along the coast — and will provide 

 local government and state agencies with 

 information needed to target water quality 

 restoration and protection efforts. "It's a 

 way to bring us together with information in 

 a more usable format," Putnam adds. "This 

 will help us. It's not a panacea, but we're 

 moving in the right direction." 



"One of the things that may eventually 

 be a useful outcome," she says, "is having 

 information available online so anyone can 

 see what areas are open or closed." 



And, of course, there is the goal of 

 improving shellfish habitats and increasing 

 harvests. As Putnam says, "I love oysters. 

 And when I get them, I want N.C. oysters. 

 They're just better oysters because they're 

 not so big — they're fresh and they're 

 salty." 



TONGING FOR OYSTERS 



At daybreak on the Newport River, 

 within sight of Graham's vacant oyster- 

 shucking house, Charlie Antwine sets out by 

 boat to tong for oysters. 



As he motors toward Core Creek, the 

 purple sky goes white with mist, creating a 

 dreamscape in which sky and water are 

 nearly indistinguishable. The motor drowns 

 all other sounds, and cold numbs the face. 

 Ahead of the boat, a dolphin materializes, 

 arches upward in a slow turn, then 

 disappears. 



When Antwine cuts the motor, he says 

 it is rare to see dolphins in the cooler 

 months. 



He demonstrates using oyster tongs, 

 which are two long poles joined scissors- 

 fashion with opposing, elongated rakes at 

 the end. He thrusts the tongs down to the 

 hard shell substrate, then brings the wide- 

 apart handles together, which closes the 

 rakes under the water. Hoisting the closed 

 tongs up, he examines the caged contents. 



Sometimes the catch is empty shells — 

 sometimes, a single oyster or small cluster of 

 them, or a clam or two. Antwine gauges 



the size of the shellfish, throwing back those 

 under the size limit. If Nautilus of Greek 

 mythology had been a shellfisher, it would 

 be clear how the exercise equipment got its 

 name. It is, as Corridore says, hard work. 



Soon, the sun blazes to orange and 

 work continues as outer layers of clothing 

 are shed. Other shellfishers arrive nearby. 

 Some also are tonging from boats. Others 

 are in wet suits — waist deep in water 

 harvesting oysters by hand. 



For the most part, the work is solitary, 

 though some pleasantries are exchanged 

 about what kind of luck each is having or 

 where a closed area was recently opened. 



When the catch becomes mainly 

 empty shells, Antwine motors to a new spot 

 and begins again. 



Before heading back to Graham's with 

 his harvest, Antwine gives a tour of other 

 shellfishing areas. Out toward the bridge 

 that connects Morehead City to Beaufort, he 

 goes into a creek. The water appears 

 pristine, but the area is closed temporarily. 



Unlike permanent closures, where 

 signs warn that shellfishing is prohibited, 

 temporary closures have no signs. Thus, 

 should a shellfisher not know an area is 

 closed, an entire day's work might have to 

 be discarded, according to Corridore. All 

 shellfish catches have to be tagged to verily 

 origin. 



Continuing the tour, Antwine points to 

 Cross Rock. "You used to get good oysters 

 there, but now it's dead," he says. Oyster 

 rocks can die at a certain age, he explains, 

 or they can die from disease. 



"Oysters don't have the resistance they 

 used to, because of pollution," Antwine 

 says. 



Corridore's final report, according to 

 Trish Murphy of the DMF, may be consid- 

 ered in the development of the next fishery 

 management plan for hard clams and 

 oysters. 



For Beresoff, future management has a 

 singular importance. "We've done too 

 much too quickly and not seen the conse- 

 quences down the road," he says. "Now 

 we have to protect what's left." ^ 



Angela Corridore is now a Knauss 

 Fellow with the U.S. Commission on Ocean 

 Policy, in Washington, D.C. 



20 SPRING 2002 



