and sponsors for these competitions. 



The brochure also provides infor- 

 mation about the year-long North 

 Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tourna- 

 ment sponsored by the N.C. Division 

 of Marine Fisheries. 



For a copy of this free tournament 

 brochure, write Sea Grant. Ask for 

 UNC-SG-87-02. 



~N. The Atlantic blue 

 / ^ A crab is making an unwel- 

 / ' ' ill ^o"^^ splash in Pacific 



I ■f'^ I waters. It seems that 



\ / Wsst Coast seafood lov- 



/ ers are buying the blue 

 — crabs at fish markets. 

 But instead of serving them up as a 

 feast, the nature lovers are releasing 

 the crabs. 



Before you cheer their liberation, 

 consider this. The feisty blue crabs 

 may be threatening the lives of the 

 native species, including the Dunge- 

 ness crab. 



The blue crab is fast, voracious and 

 capable of beating the Dungeness to a 



meal. Biologists are warning that the 

 non-native blue crab could make life 

 difficult for the Dungeness. 



In fact, the blue crab has already 

 made itself at home in the foreign 

 waters. Fishermen have even reported 

 catching a few in the waters around 

 San Francisco. 



When stories of the unusual catches 

 made the news, folks started fessing 

 up. The Chicago Tribune reported 

 that one liberator confessed that he 

 had released 40 Atlantic blue crabs. 



The N.C. Marine Fisheries Com- 

 mission will hold public hearings 

 across the state in May to present 28 

 proposed fisheries regulation changes. 

 Commercial and recreational fisher- 

 men are encouraged to attend. 



The hearings will be held at 7:30 

 p.m. at the following locations: Hat- 

 teras, Hatteras Civic Center, May 18; 

 Manteo, N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke 

 Island, May 19; Washington, District 

 Courthouse, May 20; Morehead City, 

 Carteret Technical College, May 21; 



Wilmington, New Hanover County 

 Courthouse, May 26; Raleigh, Mc- 

 Kimmon Center at North Carolina 

 State University, May 27; and Win- 

 ston-Salem, Agricultural Extension 

 Center, May 28. 



The Marine Fisheries Commission 

 will meet in June to make final deci- 

 sions on the proposed changes. 



For more information, contact Jim 

 Tyler at the N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries. The toll-free number is 

 1-800-682-2632. 



Coastwatch is published monthly 

 except July and December by the 

 University of North Carolina Sea 

 Grant College Program, 105 1911 Build- 

 ing, Box 8605, North Carolina State 

 University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. 

 Vol. 14, No. 4, April 1987. Dr. B.J. 

 Copeland, director, Kathy Hart, edi- 

 tor. Nancy Davis and Sarah Friday, 

 staff writers. 



aiASTWATCII 



105 1911 Building 

 Box 8605 



North Carolina State University 

 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605 



Nonprofit Organization 

 U. S. Postage 

 PAID 



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 Permit No. 896 



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