THE BACK PAGE 



"The Back Page" is an update 

 on Sea Grant activities — on 

 research, marine education and 

 advisory services. It's also a good 

 place to find out about meetings 

 and workshops, and new publica- 

 tions. For more information on 

 any of the projects described, con- 

 tact the Sea Grant office in 

 Raleigh (919/737-2454). 



The Rangia clam may 

 no longer be considered a 

 trash food junkie, eating 

 only other sea creatures' 

 cast-offs. Sea Grant 

 researcher Don Jeffreys 

 of East Carolina Uni- 

 versity has found in laboratory tests 

 that Rangia clams will eat euglena, a 

 form of algae, and live bacteria. 

 Researchers have been unsure of the 

 clam's food sources and believe it to be 

 a "trash eater." 



In another part of the study on 

 Rangia clams. Sea Grant researcher 

 Barney Kane of ECU has found that 

 clams taken from the same area may 

 exhibit widely varying bacteria counts. 

 In an experiment with nine clams, 

 eight clams showed a bacteria count of 

 less than 10,000, while one clam had a 

 count of more than 160,000. A high 

 bacteria count means the clam will 

 have a shorter shelf life when 

 marketed. Kane says further studies 

 are needed to determine why bacteria 

 counts vary so widely. 



Kane also has found that increased 

 water turbidity due to dredging has 

 only a slight effect on bacteria counts 

 in the clams. Articles in scientific jour- 

 nals had suggested that high bacteria 

 counts resulted during increased tur- 

 bidity. But Kane said experiments at a 

 dredge site in the Pamlico Sound 

 showed only a slight increase in the 

 clams' bacteria count. 



anted alive: thousands of elvers 

 from eastern North Carolina's streams, 

 rivers and inlets. Description: baby 

 eels, two-and-a-half to three inches 



long, nearly transparent. Between 

 January and March, elvers can be seen 

 migrating upstream into brackish and 

 fresh waters. They usually travel in 

 large schools and often can be found 

 near dams and culverts. 



If you spot a large school of elvers, 

 please call the North Carolina State 

 University Eel Aquaculture Project in 

 Aurora, (919) 322-4054. Ask for John 

 Foster or Jack McCauley. 



Researchers with the Sea Grant-sup- 

 ported eel farm are looking this year 

 for a big crop of elvers to stock their 

 newly-completed, grow-out ponds. Last 

 year the eel farm moved from New 

 Bern to expanded facilities on the 

 shores of the Pamlico River. 



Since 1975 researchers have been 

 perfecting techniques for raising eels in 

 eastern North Carolina. Cultured eels 

 are in demand in the Orient and in 

 parts of Europe, where they are con- 

 sidered delicacies. 



After Christmas when 

 the Yuletide spirit has 

 fizzled and it's time to 

 take down the decora- 

 tions, don't throw away 

 your Christmas tree. Old 

 Christmas trees can be 



used to mend damaged sand dunes, ac- 

 cording to Sea Grant coastal engineer 

 Spencer Rogers. 



The trees are most useful where pe- 

 destrian traffic has worn a sand dune 

 down and killed the vegetation. Rogers 

 says a Christmas tree is very effective 

 for repairing dunes because its thick- 

 ness slows the velocity of sand-laden 

 winds. The sand then drops out and ac- 

 cumulates around the tree. In windy 

 areas, a tree could trap up to five feet 

 of sand a year. 



To mend the dune, Rogers says, line 

 the tree up with the crest line of the ad- 

 joining dunes. It should be on its side 

 and parallel to the beach. Be sure to 

 position the tree far enough landward 

 so it won't be affected by the highest 

 tides. If using more than one tree to fill 

 the gap, line them up end to end 



parallel to the shoreline, Rogers says. 



Christmas trees also can be used to 

 encourage emerging dunes. Place the 

 trees in low areas in front of the form- 

 ing dunes. The Dune Book offers 

 further information on stabilizing 

 dunes. For a free copy, write Sea 

 Grant, Box 5001, Raleigh, N.C. 27650. 



§One of the regular ex- 

 penses for charter boat 

 operators is bait. Fisher- 

 men use a lot of it. 

 Traditionally , the 

 favorite bait for marlin 

 fishing is ballyhoo, which 

 is relatively expensive and must be 

 shipped from Florida. 



Last spring Sea Grant recreation 

 agent Dennis Regan and Robert 

 (Huck) Harris with the Division of 

 Marine Fisheries got the idea of 

 cutting down on costs by using hickory 

 shad as skip bait. In North Carolina 

 the female shad is caught for roe, but 

 there is no market for the buck shad. 



During the short shad run last 

 spring, Regan and Harris caught 300 

 pounds of shad. They then brined the 

 fish and froze it. Brining, soaking in a 

 high-salt solution, is necessary to keep 

 the fish from falling apart when it's 

 dragged through the water. 



Early in the season, Regan and 

 Harris gave the frozen shad to charter 

 boat captains working out of Oregon 

 Inlet. Many of the captains reported 

 that they liked using the shad, which 

 they say has good action in the water. 

 It was a poor marlin season, but at 

 least one 300-pound marlin was caught 

 on hickory shad. The bait apparently 

 works well for dolphin and wahoo also. 



Regan and Harris are planning to ex- 

 periment with hickory shad bait on a 

 larger scale next summer. They hope to 

 distribute the bait to fishermen all 

 along the coast. If all goes well, it could 

 mean extra income for commercial 

 fishermen and a new bait industry for 

 North Carolina. 



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