TheBack Pa 



"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 publications. For 

 more information on any of the projects 

 described, contact the Sea Grant offices in 

 Raleigh (919/737-2454). For copies of pub- 

 lications, write UNC Sea Grant, Box 8605, 

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



Just how important is 

 Sea Grant research? 



Ask U.S. Secretary of 

 Agriculture Clayton Yeutter. 



He recently gave the 

 Department of Agriculture's 

 prestigious Superior Service Award to 

 three Sea Grant researchers. 



J. Wendell Gilliam, Wayne Skaggs, and 

 Robert 0. Evans— all scientists at North 

 Carolina State University— were recog- 

 nized for their contributions to agriculture. 



Sea Grant funded the prize-winning proj- 

 ect. It focuses on how farmers can reduce 

 the amount of nitrogen lost through the 

 soil. And, since those nutrients usually 

 leach into rivers and streams that even- 

 tually find their way to the Tar Heel coast, 

 the team studied how estuaries are af- 

 fected by the excess fertilizer. 



The men conducted their research on a 

 coastal North Carolina farm and then de- 

 vised recommendations for better manag- 

 ing farm runoff. As a result of their study 

 and other needs, the N.C. General Assem- 

 bly enacted a cost-sharing program to en- 

 tice farmers to follow the recommendations. 



"The program is working so well that 

 three other states— Maryland, Delaware 

 and Virginia— also require these better 

 management practices in their cost-sharing 

 programs," says UNC Sea Grant Director 

 B.J. Copeland. 



"The award from the Department of 

 Agriculture proves that Sea Grant scientists 

 are tops when it comes to assuring that 

 our coastal resources are used wisely," 

 Copeland says. 



Have you decided aquaculture is the 

 wave of the future? Then Sea Grant has a 

 new publication for you. 



Raising Hybrid Striped Bass in Ponds, 

 by Ron Hodson and Jennifer Jarvis, is a 

 manual that provides step-by-step pro- 

 cedures for producing market-size hybrids. 



Commercial catch of striped bass has 

 sharply declined in recent years, leaving a 

 void in the seafood market. But the hybrid, 

 which is a cross between striped bass and 

 white bass, fills that void with an even bet- 

 ter fish— one that grows faster and is 

 hardier. 



UNC Sea Grant has put 10 years of re- 

 search into developing the hybrid, and the 

 National Coastal Resources Research and 

 Development Institute funded the first 

 commercial culture of the hybrids. 



Now the results of both projects are 

 available in this new manual. 



Hodson and Jarvis describe how to col- 

 lect broodstock, cross-fertilize the eggs, 

 manage the larvae and tend the finger- 

 lings. They include information about feed, 

 diseases, pond structure, equipment and 

 marketing. And they provide tables for 

 determining the economics of raising the 

 hybrids. 



For a copy of this manual, write Sea 

 Grant. Ask for UNC-SG-90-05. The cost is 

 $5 plus $1 for postage and handling. 



If you've ever wondered who eats sea- 

 food, what types they prefer and why they 

 change their eating habits, then Sea Grant 

 researchers have some answers for you. 



David Griffith and Jeff Johnson, two 

 East Carolina University anthropologists, 

 along with Jim Murray and Skip Kemp of 

 the Marine Advisory Service, surveyed 

 consumers in the Southeast about their 

 seafood preferences. 



The resulting information has been com- 

 piled into an easy-to-read illustrated 

 booklet, Getting to Know Southeast 

 Seafood Consumers. 



Designed for use by seafood retailers, 

 wholesalers and processors, the illustrated 

 booklet strives to help businessmen devel- 

 op an understanding of the complexity of 

 factors affecting seafood choices. 



Practical matters like price, ease of prep- 

 aration and availability certainly affect food 

 decisions. Yet a person's experiences, life- 

 style, phase in life and traditions also in- 

 fluence the foods they purchase and eat. 



For a copy of Getting to Know Southeast 

 Seafood Consumers, write UNC Sea Grant. 

 Ask for UNC-SG-90-04. It's free, but please 

 enclose $1 for postage and handling. 



If you grow and harvest 

 shellfish on estuarine bot- 

 tomland leased from the 

 state, you'll want to attend 

 Sea Grant's annual 

 shellfish conference. 

 The workshop is scheduled for 

 February 16 at the Duke University Marine 

 Lab in Beaufort. 



This year's conference is designed as a 

 training session primarily for leaseholders, 

 but offers information for those who are in- 

 terested in obtaining first-time leases. 



Sea Grant Marine Advisory agent Skip 

 Kemp will lead the one-day workshop, 

 which will focus on how to write shellfish 

 management plans, the ecology and biol- 

 ogy of shellfish, relaying shellfish from 

 seed areas and polluted waters, extensive 

 and intensive production of oysters and 

 clams, and marketing and promotion. 



As usual, the conference will end with a 

 question-and-answer session and a social 

 hour. A $20 registration fee will cover all 

 materials and the social. 



Among the speakers for this year's work- 

 shop are Tom Ellis of the N.C. Department 

 of Agriculture, N.C. Representative Robert 

 Grady and Bill Hogarth of the N.C. Divi- 

 sion of Marine Fisheries. 



For more information, contact Skip Kemp 

 at 919/247-4007. 



Rolling, sunlit waves 

 and a gentle breeze on the 

 face. 



These pleasant sensa- 

 tions of nature prompted 

 coastal property owners to 

 build their castles in the sand. 

 But angry winds and crashing waves 



