By Nancy Davis 



STRIKES OYSTER CROP. 



And Maryland, a state that once 

 was the biggest supplier of oysters on 

 the East Coast and claimed harvests 

 of as much as 2.5 million bushels of 

 oysters a year, now records about half 



a million bushels a year, Webster 

 says. 



In North Carolina, about 50 per- 

 cent of the state's oyster crop is dead, 

 estimates Mike Marshall, chief of 

 DMF's Fisheries Development 

 Section. 



He attributes most of the oyster 

 mortalities to Dermo. 



Under normal circumstances, as 

 much as 5 to 10 percent of the 

 oysters die each year, Marshall says. 



Last year, even though most of the 

 shellfish beds were closed to red tide 

 just a few weeks after opening, the 

 state recorded one of its best harvests 

 of oysters. Fishermen gathered 

 225,000 bushels of the bivalves at a 

 value of $2.9 million, Marshall says. 



Then, Marshall estimates an oys- 

 terman on the Newport River could 

 bring in 15 to 18 bushels of oysters a 

 day. This year, that same oysterman 

 would be lucky to find three to five 

 bushels, he says. 



Continued on next page. 



Newport River oystermen say as 

 much as 90 percent of their 

 oysters are dead. 



Photo by Nancy Davis 



