The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries plans to begin in May to build a new coastal fishing and oyster reef off Engelhard.
When completed, the reef will encompass 30 acres of bottom off Gibbs Shoal, but, depending on funding, that might take a few years, said Craig Hardy, chief of the division’s Resource Enhancement Section.
“It will be 7.5 acres the first year,” Hardy said.
A $445,560 grant from Coastal Recreational Fishing License revenues will fund this first of four construction phases.
The reef will consist of multiple mounds, with each mound ranging from 5 to 9 feet in height. The division will build the mounds with 150 tons of Class B rip-rap, a limestone rock crushed and sorted to range in size from a basketball to a football.
When completed, the reef will consist of 240 mounds approximately 75 feet apart, 6 feet in height. Recycled oyster shells with spat (juvenile oysters) on the shells will be placed on the mounds to start the colonization process, as well as provide habitat for finfish.
“The state invests money into the sanctuary program because research indicates that oysters that can live long and grow large will reproduce and help to develop stronger and more disease resistant spat,” stated Stopher Slade, oyster sanctuary biologist for the division’s Resource Enhancement Section.
There will be 6 feet of navigable water over the reef and it will be marked with eight white, class 4 buoys.
The state will prohibit the use of trawls, dredges and other types of bottom-disturbing fishing gear, but hook-and-line fishing will be allowed.
Oyster reefs not only help restore oyster populations, they provide habitat where juvenile fish find food and shelter, and in turn attract bigger fish. They serve as dispersal points for oyster larvae and as finfish habitat.
Additionally, oyster reefs enhance Continue Reading »
