FROM THE EDITOR 



Ocean Perspectives 



Wh; 



'hat are the most important ocean and coastal 

 issues facing the United States? 



In the late 1960s, that question was posed to the 

 Stratton Commission. Appointed by Congress, the 

 commission completed its 30-month task by 

 producing a report, Our Nation and the Sea, in 1969. 

 The commission made 120 recommendations — and 

 the results include the creation of the National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration, better known as 

 NOAA, in 1970 and the National Coastal Zone 

 Management Program in 1972. 



More than 30 years later, a new federal 

 commission is looking at the current status of our 

 ocean and coastal resources — and the role of federal 

 agencies in addressing these issues. The U.S. 

 Commission on Ocean Policy is in the midst of a 

 series of public hearings, gathering information from each coastal region. 



In the first regional meeting — held in Charleston, S.C., in January 

 — the presenters offered several common themes. One was science, from 

 studies of development impacts on coastal estuaries to exploration of the 

 great ocean depths. In fact, several speakers noted that, on the whole, we 

 know more about the moon than we do about our oceans. 



Another recurring theme was education, from putting ocean themes 

 into classroom lessons to helping the general public better understand 

 coastal and marine ecosystems. 



The changing demographics at the coast makes the public education 

 item crucial, according to Michael Orbach, director of the Duke 

 University Marine Laboratory. 



Not only is the coastal population significant, Orbach told the panel, 

 but it is still growing. Many new residents are retirees arriving from 



interior counties and states — folks who did not grow 

 up with hurricanes and beach erosion, and thus need 

 reliable information on these and other topics. 



Finally, guests and commission members alike 

 encouraged the commission to "think boldly" as it 

 gathers information and formulates recommendations. 

 If you would like to learn more about the commission, 

 go online to www.oceancommission.gov. 



While the ocean commission is gathering a 

 national perspective on coastal topics, Coastwatch will 

 continue to give you new perspectives on the North 

 Carolina coast. 



In some cases that perspective is geographic. Not 

 long ago, a reader explained that while he knows one 

 region of our coast quite well, he sometimes is 

 urifamiliar with a location featured in the magazine. 

 You can see our response at the bottom of this page — a locator 

 map to help readers identify the places we mention in our stories. Often, 

 our stories use one location to illustrate a more general topic. Sometimes 

 the entire story focuses on a particular place. 



In your coastal journey this issue, we take you to Hyde County, a 

 place forever etched in the memory of Carlos Fetterolf of Michigan, a 

 member of the National Sea Grant Review Panel. Now 75, he was barely 

 a teen when he and his father set out from New Jersey to hunt at Lake 

 Mattamuskeet — a crown jewel of Hyde County folklife. 



His first shot with the double-barrel shotgun literally knocked his 

 cap off. Later that day, he spotted geese close to shore. 



"I crawled through the reeds and muck on my belly. But as I drew 

 nearer, I was embarrassed to realize that geese weren't the only animals 

 fooled by hunters' decoys," he recalls. 



Katie Mosher, Managing Editor 



THIS ISSUE 



Contributing Writers: 

 Ann Green D Cynthia Henderson a LisaKowite 

 Katie Mosher D Pam Smith 



Contributing Photographers: 

 Walker Golder n Cynthia Henderson ° Herman Lankford 

 Jim Rice D Doug Smith ° Pam Smith D Scott D. Taylor 



North Carolina's diverse coast offers countless interestingsubjects. The large dots on 

 the locator map indicate story setting in this issue — from northeastern counties of 

 Bertie and Hyde to New Hanover and Brunswick counties in the southeast. 



Rocklngharri Caswi 



