PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



during spawning season in nearby bays. They 

 would collect female fish that were ready to 

 spawn and transport them to hatchery tanks — 

 and waiting wild-caught males. An unpredict- 

 able number of fertilized eggs would result from 

 the tank-spawning process. What's more, 

 staggered fertilization meant staggered hatching 

 times and labor-intense efforts to sort fry for 

 transfer from tanks to 

 hatchery ponds. 



Nevertheless, in the 

 late 1930s, the late Kerry 

 Bunch was one of the first 

 hatchery managers in the 

 country to culture striped 

 bass in a hatchery environ- 

 ment, according to 

 Atstupenas. By the late 

 1960s, hatchery managers 

 were exploring more 

 sophisticated scientific 

 methods. 



A significant 

 breakthrough came in the 

 late 1980s when Atstupenas 

 collaborated with Craig 

 Sullivan, a Sea Grant 

 researcher at North Carolina 

 State University. 



"I see Elliott as the 

 grand master of captive 

 spawning in the reproduc- 

 tion of striped bass," 

 Sullivan says of Atstupenas. 



Together with Ronald 

 G. Hodson, now Sea Grant 

 director, they developed 

 new techniques to induce 

 ovulation in female striped 

 bass by injecting special 

 hormone implants into wild- 

 caught female striped bass to 

 accelerate egg development. 

 Each female, they say, can 

 produce around a million 

 eggs per 1 pounds of body 

 weight. 



The rest is left to 

 nature, Sullivan says. The 

 natural courtship and 



spawning occur in the controlled environment of 

 the spawning tanks. Similar techniques are 

 applied to shad reproduction. 



As a result of the science-based process, 

 the cost ratio of the restoration of stripers and 

 shad are excellent — a concrete economic 

 benefit to citizens. 



Moreover, Sullivan says, hatchery 



TOP: At one of the 36 ponds at the Edenton complex, hatchery manager Arnold Rakes 

 harvests fish destined for stock restoration. BOTTOM: More than 12,000 annual 

 visitors who meet Lucille Harrell and Ron Smith, park rangers, learn a lot about 

 growing fish — and about the Roanoke-Tar-Neuse-Cape Fear Ecosystem. 



production in conjunction with fishery 

 management plans are important factors in the 

 comeback of striped bass. One day, the same 

 success story may be told about the American 

 shad, adds Sullivan. 



ON THE REFUGE TRAIL 



More than 12,000 annual visitors can attest 

 to the fact that there's more 

 to the Edenton hatchery 

 than incubators and 

 circulating tanks, says 

 Lucille Harrell, park 

 ranger. 



Harrell greets visitors 

 and provides interpretive 

 tours of the complex that is 

 a designated stop on the 

 Charles Kuralt Trail of 

 National Wildlife Refuges 

 in coastal North Carolina. 

 The trail honors the late 

 North Carolina journalist 

 who ended each of his 

 Sunday Mowing television 

 programs with nature film 

 essays — many produced 

 in wildlife refuges. Each 

 site on the Kuralt Trail is 

 marked with a red-roofed 

 kiosk displaying 

 information that explains 

 special opportunities to 

 experience nature. 



At the Edenton 

 hatchery. Harrell guides 

 tourists through the 

 visitors'center, where 

 exhibits highlight the rich 

 natural resources of the 

 Roanoke-Tar-Neuse-Cape 

 Fear Ecosystem. 



An aquarium features 

 the freshwater fish species 

 found in coastal river 

 systems. Yes, Harrell says, 

 the fish are reared on 

 premises. Currently, the 

 largest aquarium inhabitant 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 21 



