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National Estuaries Week Highlight: Oyster Farming Improves Estuary Health

4 people in knee-deep water: 1 leans over to view an object that another pulls from the water; 1 holds a bucket;1 writes on a clipboard.
Oyster farmer Al Smeilus provides information on oyster planting to researcher Dr. Beth Darrow and students Jessica Kinsella and Jessica Carlton on his farm in Masonboro Island NERR North Carolina. Photo: Madison Lytle.

Oyster farming = healthy estuary. We worked with partners in North Carolina’s Masonboro Island Reserve to assess ecosystem services of oyster aquaculture and found that one acre of oysters removes 50-230 kg of nitrogen! 

https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/shellfish-aquaculture-in-the-nerrs-ecosystem-services/