By Sarah Friday Peters 



When oysterman David Oglesby's 

 grandfather plucked an oyster from 

 Mill Creek, he never thought twice 

 about disease. Bushel after bushel of 

 plump, juicy shellfish looked fine to 

 him and tasted even better to his 

 customers. 



The senior Oglesby wasn't alone. 

 Before the 1920s, hardly anyone wor- 

 ried about oysters and disease. The 

 savory shellfish slipped by regula- 

 tions just as easily as they slid down 

 diner's throats. 



Epidemics of typhoid fever in New 

 York, Chicago and Washington soon 

 changed that. 



The cause. . .sewage-polluted 

 oysters. 



The cure. . .national standards for 

 testing shellfish waters and authority 

 to close polluted ones. 



By 1925, North Carolina had its 

 own Shellfish Sanitation Program to 

 oversee Mill Creek and other state 

 oyster grounds. 



But 64 years later, scientists still 

 want the poop on shellfish and 

 sewage. 



Increased development and popu- 

 lations nationwide put pressures on 

 shellfish growing areas. Now re- 

 searchers must look for better ways 



Biologist Mark Sobsey. 



IVING OYSTERS 



A CLEAN 



BILL OF HEALTH. 



to test polluted waters and improve 

 purification methods. 



Human and animal wastes are al- 

 most solely responsible for shellfish 

 contamination, says Mark Sobsey, a 

 Sea Grant researcher and a biologist 

 at the University of North Carolina at 

 Chapel Hill. 



Bacteria and viruses flow into 

 shellfish waters from seepage or sep- 



tic tank overflow, sewage, discharges 

 from industry, agricultural runoff or 

 marinas with heavy boat traffic, he 

 adds. 



Oysters pick up harmful wastes as 

 they feed on suspended particles in 

 the water. Contaminants don't affect 

 them. They don't even make the oys- 

 ters look or taste different. 



Continued on next page. 



Photo by Neil Caudle 



