Coastwatch 



Managing Editor 

 Katie Mosher 



Senior Editors 

 Ann Green 

 Pam Smith 



Contributing Editor 

 Cynthia Henderson 



Designer 

 L. Noble 



Circulation Manager 

 Sandra Harris 



The North Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Program is a federal/state program that 

 promotes the wise use of our coastal and 

 marine resources through research, extension 

 and education. It joined the National Sea Grant 

 College Network in 1970 as an institutional 

 program. Six years later, it was designated a 

 Sea Grant College. Today, North Carolina Sea 

 Grant supports several research projects, 

 a 15-member extension program and a 

 communications staff. Ron Hodson is director. 

 The program is funded by the U.S. Department 

 of Commerce's National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration and the state 

 through the University of North Carolina. 

 Coastwatch (ISSN 1068-784X) 

 is published six times a year by the 

 North Carolina Sea Grant College Program. 

 North Carolina State University, Box 8605, 

 Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8605. 

 Telephone: 919/515-2454. Fax: 919/515-7095. 

 Subscriptions are $15. 

 E-mail: katie_mosher@ncsu.edu 

 World Wide Web address: 

 http://www.ncsu.edu/seagrant 

 Periodical Postage paid at Raleigh. N.C. 



POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 



Coastwatch, North Carolina Sea Grant, 

 North Carolina State University, Box 8605, 

 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. 



North Carolina 



Front cover photo of house under 

 construction and table of contents 

 photo offish by Scott D. Taylor. 

 Printed on recycled paper. ® 



COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Oyster Research Projects Selected 

 by National Sea Grant 



The 



I he dra- 

 matic decline in 

 oyster reefs in 

 estuaries along 

 the U.S. coastline, 

 coupled with the 

 rising recognition 

 of the ecosystem 

 benefits from oys- 

 ter reefs, has led to 

 increasing efforts 

 to restore and 

 conserve oyster 

 reef habitat. 



Charles 

 "Pete" Peterson of 

 the University of 



North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received 

 National Sea Grant College Program funding to 

 examine the success of oyster reef restorations. 

 A second National Sea Grant oyster project, by 

 Daniel Baden and Jerome Naarof UNC- 

 Wilmington, will improve methods of detecting 

 brevotoxins following "red tide" outbreaks. 



The UNC-CH study will focus on how 

 oyster diseases, such as the microscopic parasite 

 known as Dermo, have affected the success of 

 reef restoration efforts. The project's conclusions 

 will include recommendations for future reef 

 restoration efforts. 



Reefs in sanctuary areas are not disturbed 

 by commercial fishing gear — thus, Peterson 

 wants to know how Dermo affects those reefs. 

 Dermo kills many oysters in commercial shellfish 

 areas before the bivalves reach harvestable size. 



^^^^^^^^ mfm 



_____ Oysters that 

 ^^^^^m survive past that 



^^^^m point within the 



^^^m sanctuaries may 



have genetic 

 ' inclinations 

 against the 

 parasite and 

 other problems. 



The UNC- 

 W project 

 focuses on the 

 "red tide" events 

 | that close 

 X shellfish areas 

 ^ along the Gulf 

 Coast — at what 

 some estimate is an economic loss of $49 

 million annually. North Carolina also has had 

 red tide events, but not on an annual basis. 



Before these areas can be reopened for 

 shellfish harvesting, officials must know that the 

 brevotoxins produced by the harmful algae are 

 not at dangerous levels. Baden and Naar are 

 conducting new antibody bioassays — known as 

 ELISA — through an in-vitro process, rather than 

 by the current standard of testing mice. 



Working with collaborators in Texas and 

 Florida as well as officials in five Gulf States, 

 they are pleased with preliminary results. 



The testing measures both the toxins from 

 the algae and the toxins from the oysters 

 themselves. The researchers expect to define a 

 new permissible level based on the more 

 accurate — and more rapid — assays. — K.M. 



In the Next Issue of Coastwatch 



I low have fish responded to the removal of a dam on the Neuse River near 

 Goldsboro? Cynthia Henderson will join N.C. Fishery Resource Grant researcher 

 Joseph Hightower as he surveys new upriver spawning areas. Ann Green takes readers 

 on a paddle trip down the Waccamaw River where rare plants and animals thrive. 



2 EARLY SUMMER 2002 



