Expanding Oyster Aquaculture Benefits North Carolina's Economy and Environment

Expanding Oyster Aquaculture Benefits North Carolina’s Economy and Environment

April 18, 2022

North Carolina’s oyster aquaculture industry is growing to serve local businesses. Photo credit: Vanda Lewis

The North Carolina oyster industry is a major economic resource for the state with an estimated value of $4.54 million for wild oyster harvest and a farm-gate value of $450,000 for aquacultured oysters. North Carolina Sea Grant and partners lead efforts to share the economic and environmental benefits of shellfish, which include improved water quality and habitat.

A major hurdle for oyster aquaculture and reef restoration alike is the carbonate-boring sponge that limits reef growth. One Sea Grant research team — a university scientist and a local fisherman — combined their knowledge and talents to develop a biodegradable substrate that promotes oyster growth while limiting sponges and other oyster enemies. The team’s new business is drawing international attention for its sustainable technology and fast-growing oysters.

Arctic seascape with scattered icebergs, rocky shoreline, and distant snow-capped mountains under a partly cloudy sky, as the ice begins to melt in the warming sun.

Alaska

Expanding and Connecting Tribal-Led Climate Change Capacity To Serve Indigenous Community Needs In Alaska

As winter ice melts along the Alaska shoreline, revealing mud and water, snowmelt floods threaten property and lives. The rising waters from thawing snow can

Sea Grant announces new projects to address community needs regarding contaminants of emerging concern

Gavin Dehnert, an Emerging Contaminants Scientist at Wisconsin Sea Grant, investigates the impact of emerging contaminants on aquatic ecosystems. (Photo Credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant.) Coastal

Sea Grant’s American Lobster Initiative awards $5.4 million to further innovative research and outreach in support of the lobster industry and fishing communities

Since 2019, Sea Grant’s American Lobster Initiative has addressed critical knowledge gaps about the American lobster and its fishery facing a dynamic and changing environment. The Initiative supports a regional extension program in the Northeast and a national research competition. Fifteen emerging research projects were selected in 2023 and 2024 for $4.6 million in federal funding by the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program. Coordinated by Maine Sea Grant since 2019, the Northeast lobster extension program was recently renewed with an $840,000 federal award that supports work through 2026.