Contact: Patricia Smith
Phone: (252) 726-7021
Date: March 31, 2010
 

CULTCH PLANTING OPERATION KICKS OFF NEXT WEEK

MOREHEAD CITY – News media are invited to join N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Dee Freeman Tuesday as he visits fishermen going to work to plant oyster shell cultch for the Division of Marine Fisheries.

The division is paying fishermen $2 per bushel to help distribute shell materials as part of a federal economic recovery grant received by the North Carolina Coastal Federation. The two-year, $5 million, federal recovery grant also includes construction of two large oyster reefs in Pamlico Sound.

For the first three weeks of an oyster's life, it is a free-swimming animal that is carried about by currents. After the third week, the oyster sinks to the bottom and must attach itself to a clean, hard surface in order to survive. That is why oysters are found growing attached to one another in beds, on bridge pilings or other hard underwater surfaces.

During the summer months, the division “plants” shell and rock (called cultch) to provide additional habitat for larval oysters and clams. Not only are these planting sites beneficial to oysters, they provide habitat and protection for juvenile finfish, crabs and small marine organisms. Larger fish tend to congregate around these sites, feeding on the smaller fish and marine life.

The division usually uses large vessels to transport the cultch out to a designated site, where the shells are either dumped off with a front end loader or sprayed off with a high-powered hose. By contracting with commercial fishermen, the shell can be distributed to shallower areas than usual.

Through an application process, the division selected 72 fishermen to participate in the cultch planting project. They will distribute 41,000 bushels of oyster shell between now and July 31 on 19 cultch planting sites in different coastal waters of the state. The sites, located in Hyde, Carteret, Pender and New Hanover counties, combine for a total of two acres.

Freeman and staff from the Division of Marine Fisheries will travel from the division headquarters in Morehead City at 10 a.m. to a cultch planting site in North Bay, off Cedar Island. News media who plan to attend should contact division Public Information Assistant Cheryl Gilgo by noon Monday at (252) 808-8137 to ensure space on a boat.