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Commission adopts oyster amendment creating deepwater recovery areas and rotational harvest rules
Summary
The commission adopted Amendment 5 for Eastern oysters in Pamlico Sound, creating large deepwater oyster recovery areas (DORAs), a culture-supported harvest strategy with fixed season lengths and rotational cultured sites; the final vote passed 5–4.
The Marine Fisheries Commission voted to adopt Amendment 5 to the Eastern oyster fishery management plan, a package that sets aside deepwater oyster recovery areas and creates a three-tiered approach to mechanical oyster harvest in Pamlico Sound.
What was adopted: the division proposed and the commission selected larger deepwater oyster recovery areas (DORAs) to protect remnant deepwater reefs, a culture-supported harvest strategy with predetermined season lengths informed by pre-season sampling, and a rotational cultured-site program where newly constructed sites are closed to harvest for three years and opened in the fourth, with post-harvest evaluation and replenishment.
Bennett Paradis, co-lead for the Eastern Oyster FMP, described the goals as balancing habitat protection with continuing harvest opportunities. “These deepwater oyster reefs ... have likely not supported much fishery effort since 2018 and have had very few live or legal oysters sampled during division monitoring efforts,” Paradis said, explaining the rationale for DORAs.
The commission adopted options intended to reduce gear disturbance, maintain culture-supported harvest with predictable season lengths, and allow adaptive season adjustments should participation change significantly. The motion to adopt Amendment 5 passed by a recorded vote of 5–4.
Implementation and oversight: the division will publish implementation plans, set monitoring to evaluate DORA performance, and use proclamations to open/close rotational sites. Staff said adaptive-management provisions could modify season lengths if participation drifts by more than 25% over a three-year average.
Implications: the amendment restricts mechanical harvest in selected deepwater areas to allow reef recovery while preserving access to planted culture-supported harvest areas. Commissioners debated size and scope of protected areas and the trade-offs between habitat protection and harvester opportunity before the close vote.
The commission instructed staff to proceed with implementation steps and public notification.
