of Dermo among oysters on the tall reefs than 

 on one-meter reefs degraded by mechanical 

 harvesting. 



NEW STUDY 



The new National Sea Grant Program study 

 addresses a number of local, small-scale varia- 

 tions in the environment, including water depth, 

 reef orientation, water flow through the reef and 

 the ability of water to transport oyster larvae. 



Understanding the relationship between 

 these small-scale effects and oyster disease could 

 aid in oyster reef restoration in areas known to 

 have high disease levels, Peterson says. 



The sampling areas include oyster sanctu- 

 aries at Wanchese in Dare County, the Pamlico 

 River estuary, the Neuse River estuary, and Cedar 

 Island Bay, Middle Marsh and Bogue Sound, all 

 in Carteret County. "These reefs bring 10 years 

 of history," says Peterson. 



In the Neuse River estuary, the researchers 

 will use historical data on oxygen, temperature 

 and salinity from the MODMON Interdisciplinary 

 Research Project on water quality. The monitor- 

 ing project is funded by the N.C Department 

 of Environment and Natural Resources and the 

 UNC Water Resources Research Institute. 



In the mid-1990s, Peterson and his 

 colleagues compared the topography of oyster 

 reefs in the Neuse River to an 1 880 survey. 

 Through the Sea Grant study, researchers found 

 that vertical structure of reefs had declined in 

 height because of dredging for oysters. 



"Specifically, the study showed that oysters 

 located on elevated reefs were above the low- 

 oxygen water mass," says Peterson. "By being 

 above this water layer, oyster survivorship and 

 growth was high." 



In another Sea Grant-supported study, 

 Peterson and his colleagues compared oyster 

 sanctuaries that were not harvested for up to 10 

 years and adjacent harvested oyster reefs. The 

 researchers found the proportion of oysters with 

 some levels of Dermo infection and the severity 

 of infection were lower in reefs closed to harvest 

 than in harvested reefs. 



Peterson says the new project will provide 

 a valuable and unique database to assess the 

 success of oyster restoration in North Carolina. 



"The project will focus on oyster restora- 



10 AUTUMN 2004 



