PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are seeking volunteers to help staff from the North Cape shellfish restoration program. They will hold several Community Volunteer Days this summer, including three hands-on opportunities in July, when volunteers will help prepare oyster shell bags and scallop spat collection bags.

Scallop seeded by the North Cape shellfish restoration program last fall are now adults and will be spawning throughout the summer. DEM and NOAA staff will monitor the larval stages of the scallops, called spat, by placing artificial collector bags, or spat bags into Point Judith Pond at various locations over the next few months. Volunteers are needed to help prepare the bags for deployment. Later in the summer, volunteers may be asked to help analyze the contents of the bag, recording any scallop spat that is present.

Additional volunteers are needed to assist with the North Cape shellfish restoration program's oyster remote set project. More than 500 bags will need to be filled with shell fragments composed of surf clams and ocean quahaugs. The bags will later be used as habitat for oyster larvae.

Future volunteer opportunities will include seeding oyster, quahaug and scallops at various locations in the South County salt ponds and Narragansett Bay.

The Community Volunteer Day projects will take place outdoors, at the DEM Coastal Fisheries Laboratory in Jerusalem. Volunteers should therefore dress appropriately for rain or shine and wear older clothing. A full day commitment is not necessary for these workshops, but prior registration is suggested since space is limited. Refreshments will be provided. Dates for the July Community Volunteer Days are:

To register by phone, contact Gloria Hull of DEM at 783-2304 or Lisa Cavallaro of NOAA at 782-3281 or, by e-mail, at Lisa.Cavallaro@noaa.gov. For additional information, contact Karin Tammi, North Cape Shellfish Restoration Coordinator, by phone at 782-3290 or, by e-mail at ktammi@mola.na.nmfs.gov.

The North Cape shellfish restoration program seeks to compensate for the losses associated with the environmental damages sustained when the tank barge North Cape ran aground off Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown in 1996, spilling 828,000 gallons of heating oil into Block Island Sound and Rhode Island's coastal ponds. More than 10 million surf clams and other shellfish, fish, and birds were killed as a result of the spill.

Restoration work performed in 2002 included raising shellfish seed; transplanting quahogs; surveying Point Judith Pond and seeding bay scallops in the pond. Nearly 100 volunteers helped release 640,000 scallops into Point Judith Pond and contributed more than 400 hours measuring, tagging, and releasing the scallops.

Restoration efforts are being directed by scientists and resource managers from DEM and NOAA. Both agencies, along with the U.S. Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, serve as the Trustees for the natural resources damage settlement for the North Cape spill.