Wild oysters provide ecosystem services that are well-documented, such as improving water quality and supplying aquatic animal habitat. Until recently, however, there was scant scientific consensus on whether shellfish aquaculture provided similar benefits. Now a North Carolina research team has discovered that local oyster farms contribute to the natural environment in much the same way as wild oyster groupings do. Partners in this study included the National Estuarine Research Reserves’ Science Collaborative, North Carolina Research Reserve, Bald Head Island Conservancy, and University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
The research team also created a decision-support tool to guide discussions on when it is appropriate to site aquaculture farms within coastal reserves.
View this factsheet or this project page to learn more. The research reserve system’s Science Collaborative, which provided $673,397 in project support, is co-administered by NOAA and the University of Michigan. (2022)
Read More: NOAA
The project team collects oyster field samples in North Carolina’s coastal waters. (Photo credit: NOAA)