Tlllil MCK PAGK 



"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. 



In February, Sea 

 Grant randomly sur- 

 veyed 577 of its Coast- 

 watch readers. We 

 wanted to find out about 

 our subscribers and 

 what they thought of our 

 newsletter. 



We learned that 55 percent of our 

 subscribers have been reading Coast- 

 watch for three or more years. Another 

 35 percent had subscribed for one to 

 three years; 10 percent, for less than 

 one year. 



Each copy of Coastwatch is read by 

 2.6 people. Sea Grant has 14,633 sub- 

 scribers on its mailing list. That means 

 over 38,000 people read Coastwatch 

 each month. 



We add 25 to 75 new subscribers to 

 our list each week. 



Readers voted (87 percent) over- 

 whelmingly in favor of our single- 

 topic approach to Coastwatch. And 

 over 95 percent of those surveyed read 

 "The Back Page" and found it helpful. 



The survey also indicated that 58 

 percent of our readers have ordered 

 other publications from the program. 



On a scale of 1 (best) to 5 (worst), 

 readers gave Coastwatch the follow- 

 ing ratings: attractiveness, 1.98; timeli- 

 ness, 1.75; informativeness, 1.34; ease 

 in reading, 1.11; and helpfulness, 1.61. 



Today, it costs about 15 cents to 

 write, edit, design, print and mail each 

 copy of Coastwatch. 



Although we'd like to look as slick as 

 Time or as colorful as Southern Living, 

 we keep production costs down by 

 printing in just two colors, using non- 

 glossy paper and taking some of our 

 own photographs. 



A special thanks to those of you who 

 participated in the survey. We read 

 every survey form and will take into 

 consideration all of your suggestions. 



The catch of the day off North 

 Carolina's northern shore is often tuna. 

 Commercial and charter-boat fisher- 

 men have increasingly targeted this 

 pelagic fish. 



Sea Grant would like to help fisher- 

 men sell their catch by providing them 

 with information about handling and 

 marketing their fish. 



This information will be provided at 

 an April 22 seminar, "Tuna Quality: 

 What's in it for me?" The seminar will 

 be held at 7:30 p.m. at the N.C. Aquar- 

 ium on Roanoke Island. 



David Green, Sea Grant's seafood 

 extension specialist, will discuss the 

 quality and handling aspects of tuna. 

 Skip Kemp, the program's seafood 

 marketing specialist, will talk about 

 market supplies and demands for the 

 pelagics. 



For more information about the 

 seminar, call 919/473-3937. 



Carteret County oys- 

 termen say this winter's 

 fishing was some of the 

 best they can remember. 

 Statistics verified their 

 claim. 



In December 1986, 

 fishermen collected 250,000 pounds of 

 oyster meat. A year before, they har- 

 vested 140,000 pounds. 



North Carolina's oystermen have 

 been lucky, says Mike Marshall, a shell- 

 fish biologist with the N.C. Division of 

 Marine Fisheries. 



Low rainfall and high salinities cre- 

 ated near-perfect conditions for young 

 oysters in 1984 and 1985. 



And no cases of oyster diseases have 

 been documented in the state in the 

 past few years. 



Oyster harvests in Virginia, South 

 Carolina and some Gulf states de- 

 clined drastically because of two dis- 

 eases. Their low supplies created a 

 high demand for North Carolina 

 oysters. 



In addition, some areas have been 

 more productive because of DMF's 

 oyster bed management program, 

 which was expanded in 1980. 



DMF replants tons of shell material 

 to provide beds for larval oyster at- 

 tachment. And in the off-season, the 

 division pays fishermen to move oys- 

 ters from polluted areas to cleaner 

 beds. 



If you want to harvest 

 a meal of blue crabs, all 

 you really need is a bait- 

 ed string, a net and 

 plenty of time and pa- 

 tience. 



But with your own 

 crab pot, you can make the fishing 

 easier and catch as many as a dozen 

 crabs in a few hours. Best of all, the pot 

 doesn't have to be tended. 



Building your own crab pot is sim- 

 ple. Constructed of wire mesh and 

 baited with fish heads or fish remains, 

 the trap is designed to allow an easy 

 entrance, but a difficult escape, for the 

 crab. 



For the project, you'll need a few 

 materials from the hardware store and 

 a copy of Sea Grant's How to Build a 

 Crab Pot. 



The 14-page booklet guides you 

 through a step-by-step method for 

 constructing a crab pot and advises 

 you of regulations you'll need to know. 



For a free copy of How to Build a 

 Crab Pot, write Sea Grant. Ask for 

 UNC-SG-80-03. 



For fishing, fun and friendly rival- 

 ry, attend one of the state's 30 saltwater 

 sportfishing tournaments. 



From Currituck to Calabash, fishing 

 clubs, marinas and civic groups spon- 

 sor these fishing frenzies. They last 

 from one day to one week. And de- 

 pending on the type of tournament, 

 anglers may vie for croaker, flounder, 

 mackerel or marlin. 



Many sportfishermen plan their 

 vacations and weekends around these 

 fishing contests. That's why Sea Grant 

 publishes a brochure that lists the dates 

 Continued on next page 



