MOREHEAD CITY – The Division of Marine Fisheries will close 2,877 acres of shellfish waters to shellfish harvest today due to high fecal coliform bacteria pollution.
The closures will take effect at sunset and are based on annual reports that consider the last 30 water samples (about 5 years of data) taken in each growing area. If the bacteria levels are found to exceed the national standards for safe shellfish harvest, the waters must close to shellfishing.
Staff with the division’s Shellfish Sanitation and Recreational Water Quality Section believe the high rainfall in 2014, 2015, and 2018 contributed to these changes.
Most of the larger closure areas are being classified as conditionally approved closed, which means they may still be able to open during dry periods. In addition, the division will continue to monitor the waters in case any meet the criteria to be reclassified as open.
The following waters are changing from conditionally approved open to conditionally approved closed:
The following waters are changing from conditionally approved open to restricted:
The following waters are changing from approved to restricted:
The following waters are changing from approved to prohibited:
For more specifics on the closures, including GIS coordinates, see Proclamation PA-PC-2019 at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations-polluted-areas.
For more information, contact Shannon Jenkins, chief of the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Shellfish Sanitation and Recreational Water Quality Section, at 252-808-8148 or shannon.jenkins@ncdenr.gov.