Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: June 1, 2009
Phone: (252) 726-7021

NEW PERMIT REQUIRED FOR OYSTER LEASE HARVEST

MOREHEAD CITY – Shellfish lease holders need to drop by or contact the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City office to get a new permit for harvesting oysters during the closed season.

The permit went into effect today, and is required through Sept. 30. The permit is free.

DMF implemented the permit to comply with an Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference-recommended Vibrio parahaemolyticus Control Plan for North Carolina. The control plan requires oysters harvested during June, July, August and September to be placed under continuous mechanical refrigeration within five hours of the beginning of harvest. The mechanical refrigeration must be approved by the state Division of Environmental Health’s Shellfish Sanitation Section.

Permit conditions require the harvester to record the date and time harvest begins on a Certification to Ship or Possess Oysters from a Private Shellfish Lease or Franchise form and sign the form to attest to the time and date recorded. The recipient of the oysters must record the date and time the oysters were placed under continuous refrigeration and sign the form to attest to the date and time recorded. The required certification forms are also available from the Resource Enhancement Section for free.

DMF’s Resource Enhancement Section will issue a Closed Oyster Season Harvest Permit for Leases and Franchises only to shellfish lease and franchise holders who possess a North Carolina Standard Commercial Fishing License or a Retired SCFL with a shellfish endorsement or a shellfish license.

Designees will be allowed to harvest if in possession of a copy of the permit and proper written authorization from the lease or franchise holder.

The person holding this permit or his designee must contact the Marine Patrol communications center prior to harvesting under this permit.

The permit is available only through the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City office. For more information, contact DMF Resource Enhancement Chief Craig Hardy at (252) 808-8046 or Craig.Hardy@ncdenr.org.