Everything pointed toward a 

 record harvest of oysters. 



A year ago, the red tide had closed 

 down most of the state's shellfish 

 beds, leaving the oyster crop largely 

 untouched. Fishermen reasoned that 

 it would mean a bumper crop 

 awaited their tongs this year. 



But by early summer, well before 

 the season opened, their hopes were 

 dashed. 



In the Newport River, clammers 

 started noticing "boxes" in nearby 

 oyster beds. The oysters were still 

 hinged shut as though they were 

 alive, but there was nothing inside. 



And in Lockwood Folly River and 

 Virginia Creek in Topsail Sound, the 

 story was the same. 



The oysters were dead. 



Once plentiful beds were full of 

 empty shells. Every now and then, a 

 twist of the oyster knife revealed an 

 animal inside. But more often than 

 not, the mollusk was wasting away. 



By November, the N.C. Division of 

 Marine Fisheries confirmed the fish- 

 ermen's worst fears. 



The parasites that had decimated 

 the once prolific oyster beds of the 

 Chesapeake Bay had spread into Tar 

 Heel waters. 



Dermo and MSX, parasites that 

 kill oysters, are leaving slim pick- 

 ings for the state's oystermen. 



ISEASI 



Dermo and MSX had shown up 

 here. 



Both are single-celled parasites, 

 invisible to the human eye. They 

 thrive in warm, salty waters typical 

 of tidal creeks and sounds during 

 drought conditions. The organisms 

 attack oysters, eventually killing 

 them. 



DMF officials stress neither organ- 

 ism is harmful to humans, so shell- 

 fish beds will not be closed. 



Of the two parasites, Dermo is the 

 most prevalent here. In samples from 

 the Newport River, 40 percent of the 

 oysters contained Dermo. Lockwood 

 Folly and Virginia Creek samples 

 showed that nearly 85 percent of the 

 oysters were affected with Dermo. 

 The parasite has also been identified 



in Jones Bay in Pamlico County. 



MSX has been identified in the 

 Newport River, Wysocking Bay in 

 Hyde County and the Crab Slough 

 area near Oregon Inlet. 



Until recently, it seemed North 

 Carolina would escape the problems 

 that have plagued our Northern 

 neighbors since the 1950s. 



So, when Maryland Sea Grant 

 agent Don Webster heard Dermo and 

 MSX had been identified here, he 

 had four quick words. "Oh, God 

 help you," he said. 



Oysters once dominated the sea- 

 food industry there. At one time, as 

 many as 3,000 oystermen plied the 

 waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Now 

 fewer than 500 fishermen harvest the 

 bivalves. 



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Photo by Scott Taylor 



