The 1993 statistics are expected to 

 bear this out. Losses will overtake the 

 gains of the mid-1980s, and for the first 

 time in a decade, the number of open 

 shellfishing acres will drop below 1980 

 levels, Barber says. 



The good news is that these closings 

 won't have a tremendous impact on oyster 

 lovers because North Carolina imports 



most of its shellfish from Louisiana and 

 other states. 



The bad news is that fishermen can't 

 make a living off of the ever-shrinking 

 shellfish areas. Disease and to a lesser 

 extent pollution have trimmed harvests by 

 half over the last decade. Oysters are down 

 from 1 10,160 bushels in 1982 to 57,379 in 

 1992; clams decreased from 1.2 million 



pounds to 722,000 for the same period. 

 Clam production, however, is still among 

 the highest in the nation. 



There may also be broader environ- 

 mental implications. Shellfish areas are 

 closed by fecal coliform, a harmless bacte- 

 ria that is washed into the water and used 

 by resource managers as an indicator of 

 dangerous pathogens. The bacteria may 



Shellfish areas may look safe, but Shellfish Sanitation tests them to ensure that they're suitable for haiyesting. 



More than half of North 

 Carolina's 2 million acres of coastal 

 waters are suitable for shellfishing. 

 The Shellfish Sanitation Branch of 

 the N.C. Division of Environmental 

 Health samples these waters and 

 catalogs them in one of four ways. 

 Following is a breakdown of the 

 305575 acres of shellfishing waters 

 between Cedar Island and the South 

 Carolina line. 



APPROVED 



Shellfishing waters that are opened to 

 harvesting; 260,100 acres. 



This includes a subset of waters: 

 Conditionally Approved 



Shellfishing waters that are open but 

 automatically closed after a certain period 

 and amount of rain. Shellfish Sanitation is 

 preparing management plans, due in April, 

 that will state the circumstances (amount of 

 rain, period of rainfall) that will close each 



area. The waters are reopened when sam- 

 pling determines they are safe; 45,000 acres. 



Also, shellfishing waters that are closed 

 to haiyesting but temporarily opened during 

 diy spells if samples indicate safe levels of 

 fecal coliform bacteria; 5,000 acres. 



PROHIBITED 



Waters that are entirely closed to 

 shellfishing in one of three ways: by contami- 

 nation of fecal coliform bacteria; by law, such 



4 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1994 



