Climate Change Impacts on Farmed and Wild Oysters (2024-2025)
This team examined how environmental conditions and farming practices affect oyster health in North Carolina’s Bogue Sound, where climate change and other stressors have led to recurring oyster mortality events.
Team members explored why oysters at some farms experience significant die-offs, particularly during late spring and summer. By comparing the Duke Aquafarm, which has no history of mass mortality, with the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST), which has seen repeated losses, the team sought to identify environmental and operational factors that influence oyster survival and performance.
Over the summer of 2024, the team monitored water quality (temperature, salinity, pH, and oxygen), oyster growth and survival, while testing the impact of farming variables like genetic strain, stocking density and bag-flipping frequency.
The team developed an interactive data sharing platform to share their findings with farmers, scientists and the public. This tool enables users to explore real-time environmental and biological data, supporting informed decision-making in aquaculture.
The project was presented at the 2025 World Aquaculture Society Conference and is laying the groundwork for a broader study involving more sites and new variables.
Learn more about this team’s work by reading their team profile.
Timing
Summer 2024 – Spring 2025
Team Outputs
Environmental Impacts on Farmed Eastern Oysters in North Carolina (Poster presentation at Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 16, 2025; Winner, Bass Connections Showcase Poster Competition)
Duke Aquafarm: A Demonstration Site for Oyster Aquaculture Research, Education, and Community Engagement (Presentation at Aquaculture 2025, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 2025)
What the Shuck is Happening with Summer Oyster Mortality? (Team profile)
See related team, Climate Change Impacts on Farmed and Wild Oysters (2025-2026)
Image: Collecting oyster field samples in North Carolina’s coastal waters, by NOAA Office for Coastal Management