of recreational fish are lumped in govern- 

 ment statistics with those resulting from 

 commercially handled seafood. As a 

 result, the seafood industry may be get- 

 ting a bad rap it doesn't deserve. 



"I'm not saying the seafood industry 

 doesn't have problems with illnesses 

 because it does," Ward says. "But the 

 public's perception is that there are more 

 problems than actual evidence shows." 



And these aren't the only wrong ideas 

 Americans have about seafood safety. 



"The public has the impression that 

 seafood processors are not inspected 

 now," Ward says. "They are inspected. 

 It's just not continuous inspection like 

 we have for meat and poultry.' ' 



The Food and Drug Administration in- 

 spects all food, including fish and 

 shellfish, that crosses state lines. They 

 periodically visit seafood businesses to 

 inspect plant sanitation. 



The Environmental Protection Agency 

 monitors coastal water quality, establishes 

 allowable limits for specific toxins and 

 tests fishery products. The U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service does the same for in- 

 land fish. 



Oil spills in Alaska. Syringes on New 

 Jersey beaches. Fishless water in Boston 

 Harbor. 



Consumers are getting the message 

 from Dan Rather to Phil Donahue that our 

 coastal waters are polluted. 



Is this talk of pollution affecting people's 

 perception of the fish and shellfish caught 

 in these waters? 



Maybe, say Sea Grant researchers David 

 Griffith and Jeff Johnson. These East 

 Carolina University anthropologists are 

 determining what people know about 

 coastal pollution and how it affects their 

 seafood buying and eating habits. 



Griffith and Johnson have surveyed con- 

 sumers in several states and across North 

 Carolina to see if geography, age, educa- 

 tion or race play factors in people's 

 knowledge about coastal pollution and 



what they think of the fish and shellfish 

 harvested from these waters. 



Johnson says some people glean infor- 

 mation from the morning newspaper. But 

 others' ideas are based on folk theories or 

 individual assumptions. 



The team is just beginning to analyze its 

 findings from more than 150 interviews. 

 Now they're tracking 30 people with 

 monthly telephone surveys to see if infor- 

 mation they read or see— be it from Dan 

 Rather or their next door neighbor— is af- 

 fecting their eating habits. 



When their study is complete, Griffith and 

 Johnson will advise the seafood industry 

 about educating its consumers. Armed with 

 the right information and approach, the sea- 

 food industry can calm any fears the Amer- 

 ican public has about the seafood it eats. 



Photo bv National Fisheries Institute 



On the state level, the N.C. Department 

 of Agriculture inspects finfish facilities; 

 the N.C. Division of Shellfish Sanitation, 

 shellfish and their harvesting waters. 

 And some county governments also scru- 

 tinize the fishermen's catch. 



But all this inspection doesn't impress 

 consumer advocacy groups. 



They say that the present system 

 focuses on plant sanitation not product 

 safety, it's confusing and it's geared more 

 for large processors than Mom and Pop 

 operations. 

 To answer the public's call for better 



Continued on the next page 



