In today’s Food Sanitation Lecture series for Spring Semester 2024, the invited guest speaker was Mr. Shawn Nelson, Environmental Program Supervisor at NC Shellfish & Recreational Water Quality. He discussed about recreational water illnesses, sources of pollution in shellfish growing areas, surveillance and sampling of these areas, inspection of oyster and crab houses, and aerial surveys of sources of pollution. The lecture was attended by 38 students.

The Shellfish Sanitation and Recreational Water Quality Section of the Division of Marine Fisheries maintains offices and laboratories in Wilmington, Morehead City and Nags Head. The section is responsible for classifying coastal waters as to their suitability for shellfish harvesting, certification of shellfish and crustacea processing plants as well as monitoring and issuing advisories for coastal recreational swimming areas.