THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150340
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 44 lines
Increased pollution in Dare County shellfishing waters around Roanoke Island and Oregon Inlet resulted in the closing Wednesday of an additional 250 acres of clam and oyster beds.
``This is not so much a new restriction as an addition to waters previously closed to shellfishing,'' said George Gilbert, a sanitation officer with the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources.
Gilbert - based in Morehead City, where the latest shellfishing curtailment was announced - said the closing reflected a significant increase in the fecal bacteria count in the affected waters.
``Recent heavy rains have a lot to do with this because of runoff from adjacent land areas,'' Gilbert said. ``All warm-blooded animals, including humans, provide a natural habitat for coliform bacteria in their intestinal tracts.''
Land-clearing for development in resort communities also increases the polluting runoff, Gilbert said.
The 250 acres of newly closed shellfish beds are on the west side of the Oregon Inlet bridge near Davis Slough and along the Nags Head-Manteo causeway to Roanoke Island.
Oysters and clams in the waterways are mostly taken by local residents for their own consumption, according to local fisheries officials.
``We will be working with state and local officials to determine all the reasons for the decline in water quality in these areas,'' said Bob Benton, head of Shellfish Sanitation, a part of the state Department of Environment, Health and National Resources, in Morehead City.
``According to the Division of Marine Fisheries, less than 1 percent of North Carolina's inshore shellfish harvest occurs in Dare County,'' Benton said.
``The impact of the new closings on fishermen should be minimal because these are not traditional areas for commercially harvesting clams or oysters,'' he said.
Signs will be installed to mark the new areas closed to the taking of shellfish, Benton said.
Gilbert said 2,200 acres of Roanoke Sound from Jockey's Ridge south to the channel leading under the Oregon Inlet bridge were closed to shellfishing several years ago. by CNB