NC State Continues Work on Oyster Sanctuary Restoration Project
Expansion of an existing Pamlico Sound oyster sanctuary network and partnership supporting underrepresented university students to study marine sciences is making progress. The project, titled, “Completing the Pamlico Sound Oyster Sanctuary and Training the Next Generation of Restoration Professionals”, is being funded through a $14.9 million grant to the North Carolina Coastal Federation from The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
According to NC State CMAST research assistant, Melissa LaCroce, who is working on the project, the grant focuses on, “The restoration of sub-tidal oysters from oyster sanctuaries to create a positive increase in larval supply to the entire oyster metapopulation in Pamlico Sound. Additionally, this project is working to engage more underrepresented students to participate in this restoration program as a cohort.”
LaCroce says the project ultimately focuses on sustaining and growing productive oyster fisheries and strengthening ecosystem resilience, fostering “regionally important habitat restoration in the form of completing 500 acres of restored, no-take oyster sanctuaries in the second largest estuary in the U.S.”
The project also strives to, “enhance community resilience to climate hazards by creating high-relief reefs that are resilient to extreme storm events, and reefs that provide other co-benefits such as enhanced water quality benefits via oyster filtration, and recreational fishing opportunities via increased structural complexity of the estuarine bottom, and provide information on mercury and PFAS in oysters,” according to LaCroce.
The students pictured below are participants in the NC Coastal Federation grant.
