Farm-raised oysters are leaving a bad taste for some in North Carolina coastal communities who claim the state’s burgeoning shellfish industry is squeezing out traditional tourism-based economies.
Since September, two coastal counties have passed resolutions asking the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to stop issuing new leases for oyster farms in their back bay areas.
The moratorium requests came after residents and business owners on a string of barrier island towns — Topsail Beach, Surf City and North Topsail Beach — raised concerns about how oyster farms were curbing access to open water by charter fishing boats, private watercraft, waterfowl hunters and other users.
“They’re flooding the whole area with these floating oyster cages,” said Lee Parsons, a charter boat captain and owner of Gotta Fly Guide Service in Hampstead.
