The mechanical oyster harvest season has been extended in portions of Pamlico Sound.
The extension, which began Monday, is a result of “adaptive management measures that included collaboration with stakeholders,” according to a North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries release.
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“The Division’s annual mid-season sampling of the mechanical oyster harvest areas showed the numbers of legal sized oysters in several management areas of the Pamlico Sound met the management thresholds established in Amendment 5 to extend the season,” the release states.
That amendment in the North Carolina Eastern Oyster Fishery Management Plan includes a provision that links mechanical oyster harvest management in the Pamlico Sound to the state’s cultch planting efforts, where season length is based on pre- and mid-season sampling of oyster resources.
Commercial fishermen helped the division identify sampling sites.
The division is maintaining closures in Deep-Water Oyster Recovery Areas designated to protect sensitive habitat.
Select rotational harvest cultch sites identified in Amendment 5 remain open for the entirety of the mechanical harvest season through March 31, 2026.
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