THE mCK PACE 



"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. 



Shrimp trawls often 

 sweep up more than just 

 shrimp. Loggerhead and 

 ridley sea turtles also fall 

 victim to the nets. 



Unfortunately, the air- 

 breathing sea turtles fre- 

 quently drown before the nets are 

 pulled aboard the trawler and 

 emptied. 



The loss of these endangered species 

 concerns environmentalists and the U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service. They want 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 to take steps to stop the deaths. 



NMFS could close turtle-prone areas 

 of the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts to 

 trawling, or they could require TEDs 



— trawling efficiency devices. 

 Sewn into the body of a shrimp 



trawl, the TED is a large galvanized 

 pipe or fiberglass frame. Inside the 

 frame are slanted deflector bars that 

 force large objects — sea turtles, can- 

 nonball jellyfish and horseshoe crabs 



— out of a trap door. 



Four different types of TEDs are on 

 the market. One was developed by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service. The 

 others were developed by fishermen 

 in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. 



NMFS wanted to test the four de- 

 vices to see how well they worked. 



The evaluation was set for the waters 

 off Cape Canaveral, Fla., an area with 

 a high abundance of ridley turtles. Sea 

 Grant agents from the Southeast, in- 

 cluding Jim Bahen and Skip Kemp 

 from North Carolina, helped conduct 

 the tests aboard Georgia Sea Grant's 

 72-foot trawler, the Georgia Bulldog. 



Also observing were representatives 

 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- 

 vice and conservationists from organi- 

 zations such as Greenpeace and the 

 National Audubon Society. 



The Bulldog pulled two identical 45- 

 foot, two-seam trawls. One had a TED 

 in it; the other didn't. Ten 45-minute 

 tows were made with each TED 

 design. 



"All of the TED designs worked," 

 Bahen says. "We never saw a turtle in 

 the tailbag of a net with a TED in- 

 stalled." 



Without the TED, the other net 

 caught eight to nine turtles a day, he 

 says. 



Although all the TEDs excluded tur- 

 tles, Bahen says the NMFS design also 

 excluded other bycatch such as spot 

 and croaker. 



Georgia Sea Grant will test the Texas, 

 Louisiana and Georgia TEDs later to 

 see if the devices affect shrimp catch 

 rates. 



There was something 

 special about Buddy 

 Swain's 1985 coastal bi- 

 ology students at New 

 Bern Senior High School. 

 They did more than study 

 their coastal environment. 

 They wrote a book about it. 



The Influence of Man's Existence is 

 a 78-page book that focuses on the 

 impact man has had on the Trent and 

 Neuse rivers. The book describes how 

 the rivers were formed and how they 

 were affected by the Indians, early 

 settlers and modem man. And, the 

 students offer a look into the future of 

 the rivers. 



Swain's students spent nearly a year 

 researching, writing and editing the 

 book. Civic organizations donated 

 money for the book's printing. 



At the end of the school year, pro- 

 ceeds from sales of the book were 

 divided as scholarships among the 

 authors. Future profits will buy sup- 

 plies for the coastal biology class. 



For a copy of The Influence of 

 Man's Existence, write New Bern Senior 



High School, in care of Coastal Biol- 

 ogy, 2000 Clarendon Boulevard, New 

 Bern, N.C. 28560. Enclose a check for 

 $5.50 made out to the New Bern Senior 

 High School Coastal Biology Class. 



No, Sea Grant's new 

 four-color poster. The 

 Hardbottom Distribution 

 Map, doesn't pinpoint the 

 firmest derrieres on North 

 Carolina's beaches. 

 What it does identify 

 are firm surfaces that form underwater 

 mesas called hardbottoms. 



Hardbottoms dot the continental 

 shelf. Their edges, or scarps, are prime 

 fishing and diving spots. 



The scarps are alive with worms, 

 mollusks, corals and sponges that at- 

 tract small bait fish. The bait fish, in 

 turn, attract larger reef fish such as 

 snapper, grouper and sea bass. 



The location of hardbottoms in Ons- 

 low Bay — an area between Cape 

 Lookout and Cape Fear — are pin- 

 pointed on a map on one side of the 

 poster. The map distinguishes between 

 low-, medium-, and high-relief hard- 

 bottoms. Taller hardbottoms generally 

 have more scarp area to attract more 

 fish. 



On the other side of the poster are 

 five detailed paintings that reahstically 

 depict life on the ocean floor. This side 

 of the poster makes an excellent edu- 

 cational tool for teachers. 



The map and the information for the 

 paintings were developed by Sea Grant 

 researchers Stan Riggs, Scott Snyder 

 and Albert Hine. The drawings were 

 painted by Whiting Toler. 



For a copy, write Sea Grant. Ask for 

 UNC-SG-86-25. The cost is $5. 



The so-called crisis in insurance 

 affects everyone — including fisher- 

 men. But what can be done about it? 



That will be the topic of a national 

 workshop on fishing vessel insurance 

 and safety in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4 

 to 6. 



Continued on next page 



