Whether you like eating them raw or steamed, with a dash of hot sauce or lemon, oysters are a staple of the N.C. coast.

But the popular mollusk is more than a table setter, playing an outsized role in the state's coastal environment, economy, and culture.

Here are some facts you might not know about the Eastern oyster ( Crassostrea virginica ).

An oyster can pump up to 50 gallons of water through its body every day, removing nutrients and algae from the water. That, in turn, creates clearer and cleaner water for marine life to grow and thrive.

Some reports estimate that as much as 90% of N.C.'s historical oyster reefs have been lost over the past century.

After more than a century of declines, commercial oyster harvests have been generally growing since 2002. Still, they are at abou

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