ack Talk 



A Forum for Coastwotch Readers 



Coastwatch wants to hear from you on topics relating to the 

 North Carolina coast. Letters should be no longer than 250 words 

 and should contain the author's name, address and telephone 

 number. Letters may be edited for style. Send all correspondence 

 to Coastwatch, UNC Sea Grant, Box 8605, N.C. State University, 

 Raleigh, NC 27695. Opinions expressed on this page are not 

 necessarily those of UNC Sea Grant employees or staff. 



Keeping the Coast Clean 



Dear Editor, 



I really enjoyed my first "new" Coastwatch and look forward to 

 many more years of being kept informed and enlightened. If you 

 have a volunteer program in addition to the annual Big Sweep, I'd 

 like more information about that and how to participate. You folks 

 do a great job. 



Candace Jackson, Raleigh, N.C. 



The Big Sweep is more than a one-day waterway litter cleanup. 

 It's a year-round educational outreach project as well, and there 

 are a host of volunteer opportunities. In recent months, Big Sweep 

 coordinators have held community education events such as "trash 

 tournaments" in conjunction with sportfishing tournaments. We're 

 sure these activities could benefit from extra hands. 



Also, planning for the next Big Sweep, set for Sept. 19, 1992. is 

 already under way. Throughout the year, especially in the months 

 just prior to cleanup day, volunteers are needed to take phone calls, 

 assist with mailings (i.e. stuffing envelopes) and help with other 

 details. To find out how you can help, contact logistical coordinator 

 Susan Bartholomew at 515-2454. 



Cagin' Shrimp 



Dear Editor, 



In the early and mid-80s, I lived on Mill Creek in Pender 

 County. At that time, I talked with Jim Bahen at Fort Fisher 

 regarding research he was doing on a shrimp trap. I would love 

 to know if he ever perfected the trap. I will be returning to the 

 area for retirement soon and would love to catch a few shrimp off 

 my pier. We enjoy your magazine. 



Billie Hayden, Cincinnati, Ohio 



Under a sampling permit from the N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries, Sea Grant marine agent Jim Bahen experimented a little 

 with shrimp traps in the early 1980s. But he says he never had 

 much luck catching shrimp in commercial quantities. 



The trap was an 18-inch cube made of half-by-half hardware 

 cloth with a V-type funnel entrance running along the length of 

 the top side and a bait opening at the bottom. The most he ever 

 caught in one "soak" or "set" (about 2 hours) was seven to eight 

 shrimp, he says. 



Bahen had hoped the traps might be a good way for sport 

 shrimpers to get a pound or two without trawling. Also, he thought 

 it might provide a means for commercial shrimpers to fish in 

 secondary nursery areas closed to trawling. 



Division of Marine Fisheries has approved regulations for 

 commercial shrimp traps, but the required large mesh size limits 

 harvest. Shrimp crawl in, then crawl back out, Bahen says. Any 

 variation from that design requires a sampling permit, and the 

 catch from this experimentation may not be sold. 



Bahen says he never found the magic bait or technique in 

 fishing the traps; other people he knows who have tried them have 

 been closed-lipped about their findings. However, he thinks that 

 with more time and study shrimp traps can be perfected. With a 

 renewed emphasis on "passive' fishing gear, which doesn't destroy 

 or disturb the bottom, there may be room for research in the future. 

 Bahen envisions an ocean shrimp trap for rocky or coral bottoms 

 inaccessible to trawling. 



20 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 



