Recycling Program Gets Early Christmas Present

[NCangler]

MOREHEAD CITY – Two Marine Fisheries Commission members from Brunswick County, Rusty Russ and David Beresoff, are playing Santa Claus for the N.C. Oyster Shell Recycling Program.

Russ, who hails from Ocean Isle and holds a recreational seat on the commission, donated a recycling trailer to the program. He and his son will travel to Brunswick County restaurants collecting shells and taking them to a deposit site at Brunswick Community College.

Beresoff, and his wife Lisa, have placed recycling barrels in front of her seafood house in the Sunset Harbor area of Brunswick County. Folks can drop their shells off in the barrels and the shells are collected about once a week. Beresoff holds a commercial seat on the commission.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has collection sites set up in several coastal counties to gather oyster shells from individuals and businesses. The division stockpiles shells and then places them overboard in selected areas to grow more oysters.

Oysters begin life as free-floating organisms, but quickly settle to the bottom attaching to hard surfaces. They grow on pilings and concrete, but their favorite, most productive place to grow is on other oyster shells.

The more places we create for oysters to grow, the more oysters we will have. Since oysters also help clean water, more oysters mean cleaner water.

Collection sites are located in Brunswick, Carteret, Edgecombe, Hyde, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt and Wilson counties. Visit http://www.ncdmf.net/shellfish/recycle1.htm to learn more about the program and view collection locations. The DMF will also provide a collection trailer at large oyster roasts.

For more information about recycling shells, please contact Craig Hardy at craig.hardy@ncmail.net or by calling 800-682-2632 or 252-726-7021. For information about the Marine Fisheries Commission, visit http://www.ncdmf.net/mfc/index.html .