The expansion of shellfish mariculture presents a valuable opportunity to create and retain jobs while enhancing the local seafood supply and providing critical ecosystem services that benefit important nursery habitats because of its water purifying properties. R ecent efforts to expand oyster production in South Carolina (SC) suggest that coastal landowner and waterway user opposition is the greatest threat to oyster farming because the infrastructure is often more visible to the public than clam mariculture . Understanding resident and visitor concerns and improving communications with these stakeholders is critical to the future of oyster mariculture development.
Underlying the potential opposition is the lack of information on the social carrying capacity for oyster mariculture on the SC coast. Social carrying capacity is the amount and type of use that an area can accommodate without unacceptably degrading cultural or community elements (i.e., view sheds and recreational behavior) . The first phase of this project was qualitative research to identify issues, factors, variables, and attributes influencing stakeholder perceptions and attitudes towards the expansion of oyster mariculture . This information will then be used to develop a set of indicators that will serve as the basis for measuring social carrying capacity/societal acceptance of mariculture in Charleston and Beaufort counties in phase two . In total, 80 semi-structured field interviews were conducted with stakeholders in Charleston and Beaufort County guided by a script and questions approved by an industry research advisory group. Stakeholders interviewed included creek and riverfront property owners (n=20), recreationists (n=20), coastal business owners and managers (n=15), local and county government representatives (n=10), and tourists from outside Charleston, Beaufort and adjacent counties (n=15). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded (open and axial) to identify underlying issues, facto rs, variables, and attributes of oyster mariculture . Here are representative quotes from those findings:
"I would say it does fit into the local culture. It's harvesting oysters. Commercially raised but we've been harvesting oysters here ever since there were people here, so yeah it fits in with the local culture."
"They're regulated, they're clean, and they're not going to get you sick (which I've done). I can see a lot of positives on the farmer side - and economically it's another place to make some money"
"Oysters filter the water - benefits, probably takes some of the pressure off the wild oysters. The supply is perhaps a more reliable source for consumption than the wild oysters."
"It shouldn't be in those areas where you have high public traffic of boating. I'm more concerned about oyster farming blocking or blocking access to recreational or other folk that do fish, ski, ride to look at birds…"
"I mean if it's taking up a smaller part of the waterway I don't think that that's personally a problem, but if it's taking up a large part I don't think that would be so cool."