. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. If The Romans Could Do It, Eph O'Neal Thinks He Can Do It, Too When Ephriam O'Neal looks at the handmade raft floating in a shallow canal near Cape Hatteras, visions of Oyster Bars dance in his head. The cause of the reverie is 75,000 seed oysters maturing in plastic racks suspended from the raft. Sea Grant agents Sumner Midgett and Hughes Tillet planted O'Neal's oysters in February and May and the shells have already doubled their original thumb nail size. "I'm telling you they're growing fast,"
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. If The Romans Could Do It, Eph O'Neal Thinks He Can Do It, Too When Ephriam O'Neal looks at the handmade raft floating in a shallow canal near Cape Hatteras, visions of Oyster Bars dance in his head. The cause of the reverie is 75,000 seed oysters maturing in plastic racks suspended from the raft. Sea Grant agents Sumner Midgett and Hughes Tillet planted O'Neal's oysters in February and May and the shells have already doubled their original thumb nail size. "I'm telling you they're growing fast," O'Neal says with satisfaction as he surveys his crop. O'Neal is magistrate in Hatteras and operates a marina. He also fishes in the winter. Several years ago he tried to open an oyster bar but found it difficult to get the oysters when he needed them. He decided to lease some bottom land to plant oysters, but when he learned of the off-bottom methods being practiced in Japan and now on the Outer Banks he saw some definite advantages. "With these oysters here if you offered me a price and I didn't like it, I wouldn't have to throw my oysters away. I could just leave them in the water growing until the market is ; The most immediate benefit would be to avoid the hassle of trying to get a state lease—no small chore nowadays. O'Neal simply asked the land- owners abutting the canal for permission to float his raft in the water. He will need a lease, however, if he expands his pilot project. O'Neal also believes he can avoid two other major headaches—problems with the weather and the market. Because his raft is tied in a protected area it is spared the worst of the elements. The water surrounding the growing oysters is polluted, however, and O'Neal will have to transfer his mature crop to clean water for a period of time before he can sell it for human consumption. But he figures he will only cleanse limited amounts of oysters at one time decreasing the risks of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
