TiiK HACK mail 



"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 publi- 

 cations. For more information on any 

 of the projects described, contact the 

 Sea Grant offices in Raleigh (919/737- 

 2454). For copies of publications, 

 write UNC Sea Grant, NCSU, Box 

 8605, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8605. 



When it comes to fil- 

 tering sewage, some 

 soils just can't get the job 

 done. The sandy soils of 

 the coastal plain and the 

 clay soils of the Pied- 

 mont and mountains 

 pose problems for conventional waste 

 treatment systems. Along the coast, 

 loose, shallow soils frequently don't 

 purify wastewater before it reaches 

 the water table. And dense clay soils 

 don't always allow the effluent to be 

 absorbed. Instead, it rises to the 

 surface. 



To reduce the problems — polluted 

 groundwater and restrictions on de- 

 velopment — caused by the poor soils, 

 a team of Sea Grant researchers devel- 

 oped some alternatives, the low-pres- 

 sure pipe and mound systems. These 

 systems pump doses of wastewater 

 under pressure into shallow, narrow 

 trenches. 



Several years ago. Sea Grant pub- 

 lished two manuals. Design and Instal- 

 lation of Low-Pressure Pipe Waste 

 Treatment Systems and Design and 

 Installation of Mound Systems for 

 Waste Treatment, to familiarize engi- 

 neers, sanitarians, contractors and 

 architects with the construction of 

 these alternative systems. 



Now, Sea Grant is offering a third 

 manual in the series, Pressure-Dosed 

 Septic Systems: Electrical Compo- 

 nents and Maintenance, written by 

 Claude H. House and Craig G. Cogger 

 of the NCSU Soil Science Depart- 

 ment. This manual describes, in detail, 

 the dosing controls and accessories 

 needed for pressure-dosed septic sys- 

 tems and discusses how to select, use 

 and maintain them. 



For a copy of this publication, write 

 Sea Grant. Ask for UNC-SG-85-06. 

 The cost is $3. For a copy of the low- 

 pressure pipe or mound manual, ask 

 for UNC-SG-82-03 and UNC-SG-82- 

 04, respectively. The cost is $2.50 for 

 each. 



North Carolina fishermen may be 

 netting bigger profits this year if a new 

 type of fishing gear proves efficient. 

 Word has spread that floating pound 

 nets may be a better choice than the 

 traditional staked pound nets. With 

 this in mind, Clinton Willis, president 

 of the Carteret County Watermen's 

 Association, asked Sea Grant agent 

 Bob Hines to test the floating nets and 

 bring back the results. 



Hines says he plans to borrow the 

 nets from Maine and test them in Car- 

 teret County this spring, summer and 

 fall. Floating pound nets use floats and 

 anchors to hold them in place instead 

 of stakes, making them simpler to put 

 out and take up, says Hines. And the 

 absence of stakes will lessen naviga- 

 tional hazards for boaters. 



For the full report on Hines' find- 

 ings, watch the Back Page. 



N o one knows for 

 sure how much shoreline 

 the ocean will claim in 

 the next 20 years. The 

 extent of erosion de- 

 pends on many factors, 

 including the powerful 

 winter storms that occur in eastern 

 North and South Carolina. 



A new research project on the Caro- 

 lina coasts may answer some of the 

 questions. Researchers from all over 

 the country are studying the storms, 

 hoping to improve the ways forecast- 

 ers can predict when or where major 

 storms will hit. 



GALE — Genesis of Atlantic Lows 

 Experiment — is a $10 million project 

 involving about 200 scientists, numer- 

 ous universities, the National Aeronau- 

 tics and Space Administration, the Na- 

 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 

 ministration and the U.S. Air Force. 

 The researchers want to find out how 



the Appalachian Mountains, the coast- 

 al landscape and the Atlantic Ocean 

 contribute to the formation of the win- 

 ter storms that destroy oceanfront 

 property, produce gale-force winds 

 and cause beach erosion. 



Len Pietrafesa, a Sea Grant re- 

 searcher and N.C. State University 

 professor, was part of the project. He 

 studied the interaction of wind with 

 the ocean currents and the heat and 

 energy exchange across the surface of 

 the ocean during the storms. 



January through March, the team 

 used weather balloons, research ves- 

 sels, airplanes, weather stations, 

 computers and radar to measure storm 

 activity at the coast. Their compiled 

 results should make a difference in 

 understanding the force and timing of 

 these large storms. 



North Carolina ranks 

 third on the Atlantic 

 Coast in blue crab pro- 

 duction. Since 1978, fish- 

 ermen have reported rec- 

 ord landings. But growth 

 in the state's blue crab 

 fishery affects more than just the 

 fishermen. It impacts dealers, proces- 

 sors, managers and consumers. 



In a working paper. Social and Eco- 

 nomic Impacts of Growth in the Blue 

 Crab Fishery in North Carolina, Sea 

 Grant researchers assess the effects of 

 this growth. John Maiolo, Claudia Wil- 

 liams, Ruth Kearns, Hurbert Bean and 

 Hih Song Kim, with the East Carolina 

 University Department of Sociology, 

 Anthropology and Economics, exam- 

 ine some of the social and economic 

 parameters of the state's blue crab 

 industry. And, the researchers offer a 

 profile of a crab fisherman. 



For a copy of the report, write Sea 

 Grant. Ask for UNC-SG-WP-86-1. The 

 cost is $1.75. 



Last year, most North Carolina 

 shrimpers saw gold when they pulled 

 in their nets. Shrimpers netted the 

 second largest total catch in the state's 

 history. In 1985, the fishermen caught 

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