In The News

Spat-On-Shell Project to Restore Wild Oysters

North Carolina Sea Grant, the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and industry collaborators have joined forces on a new project to produce and deploy spat-on-shell to restore wild oyster populations for future harvest.

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Susan Hill, owner of Down East Mariculture in Williston, is serving as the commercial nursery partner.

How a North Carolina Oyster Nursery Is Improving Lives—and the Environment

The Pew Charitable Trusts is working with partners in the state to advance oyster recovery, which can improve habitat and water quality, and protect shorelines from storms. To learn more, Pew spoke with Susan Hill, co-owner of Down East Mariculture, an oyster nursery in Jarrett Bay, North Carolina. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.   

Native gives ‘clam house’ new life

It’s probably safe to say that relatively few women – or men – would start an oyster seed nursery at age 65. It’s probably even safer to say that few if any women or men who deign to take on that task and degree of risk would buy a big, decrepit cinder block building, renovate it and hope the business will help revitalize an entire community, albeit a small one.

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But Susan Fulcher Hill is doing it in Williston.