Groups working to improve water quality for oyster farms

Each year oysters in North Carolina contribute 27 million dollars to the state’s economy, but for many growers that’s just the beginning of what the industry could contribute in the next ten years.

But it’s not as simple as just putting more oysters in front of people. It takes a lot of work on several different fronts to get oysters to your plate.

As the state’s beautiful coastline continues to grow and develop there’s an unintended downside: run-off from these new developments and farms are affecting water quality.

Having good water quality not only impacts the environment, where you can safely swim, but also a growing industry that packs a large punch to the state’s economy - oyster and shellfish farming.

“If there are toxins or pollutants in the water humans can’t consume shellfish that’s in poor quality of water so it’s incredibly important and that’s why you have areas that are closed to harvest in waters that have a lot of run-offs from either development or farms or poor sanitation,” said Chris Matteo with Siren’s Cove Shellfish and Oyster Farm.

That’s why groups like the North Carolina Coastal Federation are working to restore areas that can help improve water quality and while it’s taken a lot of hard work and dedication from hundreds of volunteers the work at one site along the north river is beginning to pay off.

“We’ve planted upwards of 150,000 trees, and probably close to a million different shrubs and wetland plants to put it back to what we think it once was and by doing this we’ve increased the water quality quite a bit,” said Mark Smith, North Carolina Coastal Federation preserve manager

For years the Coastal Federation has been working to purchase and restore 6,000 acres of farmland along that area, and they are now nearly finished working on the north river wetlands preserve.

“To see something being reversed to its natural state is rare nowadays,” said Matteo.

But the benefits of their work are not just improving the water quality along the river- it’s also greatly impacting shellfish farmers like Matteo, as more areas of the river are now being able to be used to grow and harvest shellfish like oysters and clams.

“We are just a couple of miles south of them in the north river so clearly whatever they are doing there for the benefit of water quality affects us in a positive way,” said Matteo.

Restoring areas like the north river wetlands preserve is just one step to improving water quality along the entire coast and why groups like the coastal federation hope to continue their work to reduce run-off.

The growing shellfish farming industry hopes to expand its economic footprint to 100-million dollars by 2030.