Here's looking at coastal Carolina 



A fisherman ambled up to UNC Sea 

 Grant Director B.J. Copeland at a 

 meeting and said, "I've been hearing 

 about this Sea Grant Program. Just 

 what do you do?" 



"Well, a lot of things," Copeland 

 replied. "We research problems, hand 

 out advice and write publications that 

 can help people like you." 



The fisherman thought for a mo- 

 ment. "Research?" he said. "What 

 kind of research can help me?" 



"Take farm drainage, for instance," 

 Copeland said. "When farming in- 

 creased in the Pamlico peninsula, 

 fishermen perceived that their catches 



were declining. The fishermen got mad 

 at the farmers and farmers got mad at 

 the fishermen. Both said they were 

 just trying to make a living — put food 

 on the table. 



"We came up with a research 

 program to find out what that 

 relationship was really like." 



Land drainage is just one of the 

 problems Copeland and Sea Grant 

 scientists tackle through research. Sea 

 Grant researchers study shellfish con- 

 tamination, seafood innovations, 

 aquaculture, erosion . . . And when the 

 results start coming in, it's up to the 

 Marine Advisory Service and com- 

 munications to get the word out. 



This month Coastwatch will in- 

 troduce you to Sea Grant and the 

 problems we study. Inside are the 

 research projects we are just begin- 

 ning. In future issues we will report the 

 results. 



