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, 

 workshops and new publications. 

 For more information on any of 

 the projects described, contact the 

 Sea Grant offices in Raleigh 

 (919/737-2454). 



North Carolina eel 

 fishermen are upset. In 

 1979 and 1980, eels were 

 bringing fishermen $1.00 

 to $1.25 per pound and, 

 with these prices, more 

 fishermen began cashing 

 in on the eel fishery. But this year, 

 early spring prices began around 90 

 cents per pound and rapidly plum- 

 meted to 45 and 50 cents per pound. 

 Now, most dealers aren't even buying 

 eels. 



Fishermen wanted to know what 

 happened to the market, so two Sea 

 Grant Marine Advisory Services 

 agents got on the telephone to find out. 

 Bob Hines and John Foster contacted 

 East Coast eel buyers and fisheries ex- 

 port officials in the U.S. Department 

 of Commerce. They found that the 

 reasons for the price drop appear to in- 

 clude a glut of small eels in the Euro- 

 pean market, a decline in demand 

 caused by PCB-contaminated eels ap- 

 pearing in Europe, red sore disease 

 showing up in North Carolina eels, a 

 shift in the monetary exchange rate, 

 and an unreasonably high price paid to 

 fishermen in the two previous years. 



"There is still a market for large eels 

 over three-quarters of a pound," Hines 

 says. "But the fishermen are not 

 catching enough of those large ones to 

 justify fishing." Hines says the larger 

 eels may have moved further inland, 

 out of coastal fishing waters, due to 

 unusually high salt content in the 

 water this year. He also says that there 

 might be too many fishermen in the 

 business. 



Foster and Hines say the future 



price is expected to stabilize at a lower 

 level. Prices are expected to range be- 

 tween $.50 and $.75 per pound, 

 depending upon supply and demand, 

 for at least the rest of 1981. 



Sea Grant became active in the 

 development of the North Carolina eel 

 fishery in 1973, when most of the eel 

 harvest was used locally for bait. Since 

 then, the fishery has grown rapidly on 

 the strength of exports to Europe and 

 Japan. Landings in the 950,000-pound 

 range were reported in both 1979 and 

 1980, according to the N.C. Division of 

 Marine Fisheries. The 1980 harvest 

 brought a record value of $1 million. 



Sea Grant is still active in develop- 

 ing the fishery and ready to answer 

 questions for and offer advice to eel 

 fishermen. For names of eel buyers or 

 suggestions for holding eels, contact 

 Bob Hines at the N.C. Marine 

 Resources Center/Bogue Banks, P.O. 

 Box 896, Atlantic Beach, N.C. 28512, 

 or call (919) 726-0125. For information 

 on eel aquaculture, contact John 

 Foster at the NCSU Aquaculture 

 Demonstration Project, Route 2, Box 

 305, Aurora, N.C. 27806, or call (919) 

 322-4054. 



It may be water, 

 water everywhere along 

 coastal North Carolina, 

 but the problem comes 

 in how to manage North 

 Carolina's sounds, rivers 

 and estuaries. Fishermen 

 want to fish from them, farmers want 

 to drain their fields into them, in- 

 dustry wants to draw from them. It 

 seems everyone has a use for North 

 Carolina's coastal waters, and manage- 

 ment is a big job. 



That's why a task force has been 

 gathered by the Department of 

 Natural Resources and Community 

 Development to study the problems of 

 water management on the peninsula 

 between Albemarle Sound and 

 Pamlico Sound. Joe Phillips of the 

 NCSU Soil Science Department will 

 chair the group. B. J. Copeland, UNC 

 Sea Grant's director, is also on the task 



force. The group will combine the 

 views of scientists, management of- 

 ficials and water users like fishermen, 

 farmers, foresters and industry 

 representatives as they try to reconcile 

 differences and optimize the uses of 

 coastal waters. 



Director of UNC Sea 

 Grant's Marine Ad- 

 visory Services, J.C. 

 Jones, has announced his 

 retirement from North 

 Carolina State Univer- 

 sity, effective June 30. 

 Jones is subsequently stepping down 

 from his Sea Grant post. Jones has 

 directed advisory services programs 

 since July, 1979, and has been in- 

 strumental in coordinating the work of 

 Sea Grant with the extension and 

 education programs of the N.C. 

 Agricultural Extension Service and the 

 three N.C. Marine Resources Centers. 



Jones will remain director of the 

 Department of Administration's Office 

 of Marine Affairs. 



Randy Rouse has joined John 

 Foster and Roberta Kincheloe at the 

 NCSU Aquaculture Demonstration 

 Project in Aurora. Rouse will be work- 

 ing with Foster and Kincheloe to 

 develop and perfect culturing methods 

 for the American eel. 



Each year, several 

 fishermen who trawl or 

 dredge in North 

 Carolina's offshore 

 fishing grounds bring up 

 an unexpected harvest — 

 explosive ordnance. 

 As a result of military training, sea 

 dumps and combat operations, both 

 explosive and nonexplosive ordnance 

 can be found along the eastern U.S. 

 continental shelf. Sea Grant has a new 

 publication out to aid fishermen with 

 bottom-tending gear in the identifica- 



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