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Pamlico Sound Oyster Sanctuary work nearing completion

PRE News & Ideas | By George Olsen
Published July 3, 2019 at 6:05 AM EDT
North Carolina Coastal Federation

The final phase of a Pamlico Sound oyster sanctuary is expected to be completed next week. Work on a 40-acre oyster reef in Pamlico Sound got underway in the spring of 2017. Each spring and summer since work has been done to strategically place thousands of tons of limestone marl and granite to build new oyster habitat. The Swan Island Oyster Sanctuary is open to hook and line fishing but not open to harvest. A press release from the North Carolina Coastal Federation says when oysters at the sanctuary reach maturity, they repopulate, sending baby oysters to nearby harvested reefs. They also seed cultch planted reefs built by the Division of Marine Fisheries, which can be harvested when oysters reach the legal size of 3 inches. When this project is concluded, Marine Fisheries will work with the Coastal Federation to identify locations for future restoration efforts.
George Olsen
George Olsen is a 1977 Havelock High School graduate. He received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina in 1982 where he got his first taste of non-commercial radio working for their student station WUSC. After graduation he worked about five years in commercial radio before coming to work at Public Radio East where he has remained since outside of a nearly 3-year stint as jazz and operations coordinator at WUAL in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the early 1990s. On his return to eastern North Carolina he hosted classical music for Public Radio East before moving into the Morning Edition host position and now can be heard on All Things Considered. He also hosts and produces The Sound, five hours of Americana, Roots Rock and Contemporary Folk weekday evenings on PRE Public Radio East News & Ideas, and is a news and feature producer for Public Radio East.
See stories by George Olsen