Second in a series

SNEADS FERRY – The easy chatter of shellfish farmers gearing up for another day of work broke through an otherwise quiet morning landside of the lower New River’s sun-gleamed waters.

The air that early June day still hung cool over the small marina a handful of shellfish growers share as their waterfront hub in this storied fishing village in Onslow County.

Though they run independent shellfishing businesses, this tightknit group supports one another, sharing a passion for what they do for a living and the hardships that come with it.

“This just happened naturally,” oysterman Cody Faison of Ghost Fleet Oyster Co. said before firing up the motor of his well-weathered skiff. “Oyster farming, they’re stronger as communities. What you find here is five farmers who help each other out.”

Like Faison, many of the folks working shellfish leases in Onslow and Pender’s coastal waterways are first-generation aquatic farmers, men and women in an industry challenged by seasonal shellfish mortality events, water quality impacts, and, as of late, fewer areas in which they can farm.

“Part of the reason that all these farms are here is because they can’t go north and they can’t go south,” Faison said.

Temporary and permanent shellfish lease moratoriums in coastal counties to the north and south of Topsail Island have pushed growers to the waters of Topsail Island. The steady increase in shellfish leases has amplified concerns among property owners, boaters, and recreational fishers who argue shellfish farms, particularly those with floating cages, restrict access to prime fishing locations, obstruct scenic waterfront views, and create navigational hazards.

This is the second year in which local officials are pushing for a temporary shellfish lease moratorium in the waters behind Topsail Island.

On Tuesday afternoon, the House Rules, Calendar, and Operations Committee passed proposed House Bill 1113 sponsored by Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover. The bill aims to extend New Hanover County’s shellfish lease moratorium by another five years, appropriate a one-time, $10,000 fund for public education activities related to that county’s lease pause, extend a leasing moratorium in Bogue Sound to July 1, 2028, and impose a two-year moratorium on new leases in parts of Onslow and Pender counties until July 1, 2028.

“This will not prohibit people from going out and getting oysters,” Davis said in the committee meeting Tuesday. “What this prohibits is any more of these new things being put into the water. And, I will say that one of the concerns is the fact, you know, people have the right to use the water. It’s a public trust, and when these cages are put up, it can inhibit people’s enjoyment of that public trust. I know where I live, if a boat was to hit one of these cages, it could be bad. If somebody water skiing on a jet ski, or anything else, hits one of these cages, it’s going to be bad.”

Growers argue a moratorium in Stump and Topsail sounds would only put the squeeze on areas that do not have moratoriums, including waters around Newport, Morehead City and Beaufort.

Faison is not alone in worrying that language in the proposed bill, which currently targets the sounds directly behind Topsail Island, might be changed to include all waters in Pender and Onslow counties, a move that would shut down new leases in bays and creeks in the New River.

“What if this moratorium goes from two to 10 years?” Faison asked during a recent tour of shellfish leases in the lower New River, where he farms a 4-acre water column lease in Traps Bay.

Faison worked his way up to this lease, starting out in the business roughly six years ago by subleasing from a fellow farmer in Topsail Sound. He personally believes the state should promote subleasing. He encourages anyone considering entering the business to go that route.

He doesn’t judge which types of gear or leases other growers use. Farmers who use Seapa baskets, which are smaller and weigh less than typical, heavy-duty wire-mesh floating cages, suspend the baskets from lines that they attach to PVC pipes. That’s why some water column shellfish lease farms are so populated with the pipes, Faison explained.

Faison’s lease is dotted primarily with low-profile floating bags, a method he has found that works best for him.

“This is the future,” he said as he coasted his boat next to a line of bags in his lease. “I think this is going to be my success. I’m not saying this is right for every other farmer.”

For North Carolina oyster farmers, floating gear is the only method for producing the much-sought, high-quality oyster that looks just as pretty on the plate as it tastes, he said. Oysters must be symmetrical, their outer shells clean and barnacle-free.

“We’re all growing oysters for the raw bar, and you can’t do that on the bottom,” Faison said. “There’s no other way to do it. We don’t have enough tide swing.”

Floating gear allows farmers to replicate low tide, giving oysters a twice-daily dry spell that helps them build stronger shells, deter barnacles, and extend their shelf life.

Those North Carolina-grown, presentation-perfect oysters served to customers at area raw bars cost a pretty penny to cultivate.

“Oyster farming is a very tough way to make money,” Faison said. “I think people think we’re out here just killing it.”

According to an economic analysis published in 2024, the average startup cost to launch an off-bottom oyster farm ranges from less than $60,000 for a single line of floating bags to more than $200,000 for 24 lines.

“The total annual cost, including depreciation and interest on invested capital, labor, fuel, seed and other expenses, is estimated to range from approximately $50,000 to operate a single line of floating bags to approximately $250,000 to operate twenty-four lines,” the study states.

As boats go, the 19-footer that Faison bought off a local fisherman is about as basic as they come. There’s no console. No seats — just a couple of stacks of colorful baskets placed to one side of the otherwise flat-bottomed, open vessel.

“Is the better way to look at this a lot more moratoriums or more strict on the DMF side?” Faison said, referring to the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, which permits shellfish leases. “I don’t know the answer. I don’t know that any of us quite yet know how to bridge this gap. Instead of trying to fight for really positive change, we’re just fighting. We’re strong as this big, massive group of people working together for a common goal.”

First of two parts

SURF CITY – Capt. Ray Brittain wasn’t kidding.

The white PVC pipes he described at a public meeting last April as jutting from waters that hug stretches of banks and fill pockets of bays in the sounds behind Topsail Island are easily in the hundreds, if not thousands.

The pipes signal the locations of shellfish leases in Stump and Topsail sounds, the waters of which have become a hot commodity for shellfish growers shut out from farming in coastal counties north and south of Topsail Island because of temporary and permanent leasing moratoriums.

“We’re not over here hatin’ on anybody,” Brittain said one morning in late May as he stood on the bow of his sleek 22-footer equipped with rods, reels, tackle and other amenities advertised on his fishing guide website. “We don’t own the water. We’re out here sharing it with everyone else.”

Brittain, who owns Spring Tide Guide Service, has been fishing the waters around Topsail Island and the New River for more than 35 years. He’s witnessed firsthand the changes to the barrier island and adjacent mainland areas during that time, where development has exploded on the land and off.

It’s the latter he invited to show North Carolina Coastal Federation Coastal Management Program Director Kerri Allen during a listening session the nonprofit and North Carolina Sea Grant hosted in Surf City on April 14. The meeting was opened to Topsail Island officials, residents, and business owners like Brittain to discuss their experiences with shellfish leases, which have in recent years become contentious as more and more have been permitted.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, will host an informal presentation and listening session for shellfish growers in September.

Allen; Lela Schlenker, the Coastal Federation’s newest coastal advocate; Capt. Mike Oppegaard, owner of Native Son Guide Service out of Hampstead; and this reporter joined Brittain on a warm, sunny mid-weekday morning on his boat for a tour through the sounds.

Our first stop of the tour was at a large bay punctuated by fields of white PVC pipes marking water column shellfish leases where lines of floating cages poke from the water’s surface.

Brittain didn’t hold back his feelings about the pipes, saying he is “sick of explaining” to curious customers why they’re there. Even so, he complimented the grower of the shellfish lease we visited first.

“He actually runs a good operation,” Brittain said. “Nobody’s arguing that. We’re just overrun here.”

Today, nearly 190 shellfish leases are in the waters behind the 26-mile-long barrier island from the New River and its adjacent estuarine waters south to Topsail Sound. The number of water column leases and bottom shellfish leases in Onslow and Pender counties has increased by roughly 46% since 2018.

The rapid expansion of leases, particularly water column leases where gear must float more than 18 inches above the waterbed, has led in recent years to complaints about impacts to the viewsheds of waterfront properties, boating and kayaking access, and infringement on popular fishing spots.

Those mounting complaints from community members and local government officials who serve them have prompted calls for a temporary pause on new shellfish lease permits in waters behind the island.

State Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, in late April introduced legislation to extend that county’s 2019-imposed shellfish leasing moratorium by another five years through to July 1, 2031. A little more than two weeks after Davis put House Bill 1113 forward, a section was added to the proposed law to temporarily prohibit new shellfish leases “in certain areas” of Pender and Onslow counties.

And, more recently, the Atlantic Beach Town Council adopted a resolution urging the North Carolina General Assembly to extend Bogue Sound’s moratorium on new shellfish leases. That 2019 moratorium is set to expire July 1.

Allen told those who attended the April forum that a pause would give the Coastal Federation and Sea Grant more time to consult with residents, recreational waterway users, and shellfish growers. Their feedback would help shape future policies to protect the industry, secure its long-term sustainability, and resolve user conflicts, she said.

The Coastal Federation and Sea Grant plan are in the process of creating a Geographic Information System, or GIS, database pinpointing areas where leases may or may not be suitable in the waterways behind Topsail Island. That database is anticipated to be published next year.

Like most who’ve vocalized their concerns about the number of shellfish leases that have been permitted in the waters behind the island, Brittain and Oppegaard say they support the shellfish industry.

“Nobody thought through the issues we’re having now,” Oppegaard said. “We’re saturated. The number one issue is density.”

The large schools of drum that used to swim into the bay where Brittain first stopped once easily accommodated a handful of fishing boats at one time, he said.

“You’ll catch a fish here and there, but you don’t see big schools anymore,” he said. “You can’t pressure them so much or they’re going to leave.”

Oppegaard piped in, “I just quit coming in here.”

The men raised numerous questions regarding shellfish leases, including how aquaculture noise and cages impact fish movement, whether the volume of PVC pipes some growers use is necessary, why growers are not required to carry insurance, and whether farming operations can be moved farther away from shorelines.

“You really want the bank,” for fishing, Brittain said as he coasted along the landward side of Permuda Island Reserve, a narrow, roughly 1.5-mile-long undeveloped island in Stump Sound in Onslow County.

“If you look, it’s all leased up,” he said, pointing to rows of floating shellfish cages near portions of the island’s shoreline. “Every point and pocket has stuff on it now. We’re all pushed into tighter places where there’s actually fish. If we can just get some perimeters in place. We’re just overrun here.”

Next in the series: Leaseholders say they’re boxed in.