North Carolina State Libraiy 



Raleigh ^ ( 



Do( 



University of North Carolina 

 Sea Grant Program 



NEWSLETTER 



SEPTEMBER, 1974 



1235 Burlington Laboratories 

 NCSU, Raleigh, N. C. 27607 Tel. (919) 737-2U5U 



Mrs. Monna Jean Styron perched behind the 

 counter at the Morehead City Yacht Basin, making 

 change and chatting with customers. Out the win- 

 dow behind her, rows of proud white boats, spiffed 

 up like sailors ready for inspection, stood at atten- 

 tion. 



Mrs. Styron owns and operates the business she 

 and her late husband, W. L. "Bump" Styron, took 

 over more than a quarter century ago. Over the 

 years, the Styrons had to expand their business — 

 largely because more people discovered the fun of 

 fishing. From her seat in the window, Mrs. Styron 

 has watched sports fishermen haul tons of fish onto 

 her docks. And each year it seemed they brought 

 in more. 



Although it's tough to determine how much fish 

 non-commercial fishermen bring in each year, 

 conservative estimates say that 25 per cent of the 

 state's commercial catch is landed by sportsmen. 



But too often, the fate of "the big ones we hauled 

 in" is never told to the guys back home. Too often, 

 Mrs. Styron and others have seen the sports catch 

 wasted. 



Some fishermen, courting visions of a handsome 

 trophy hanging above the fireplace, don't consider 

 their sport a quest for food. But according to Mrs. 

 Styron and Ted Miller at the Sea Grant Seafood 

 Laboratory in Morehead City, most sports fisher- 

 men who waste their catch just don't know how to 



Making 

 the most of 

 your catch 



keep it fresh. And if they do, wives back home often 

 aren't sure how to handle, freeze and cook fish so 

 it tastes best. 



Immediate chilling is the key to fresh fish, ac- 

 cording to Sea Grant advisory agents. Fish should 

 be iced before it dies, or at the longest, within a few 

 hours of the catch. Miller, who works closely with 

 Sea Grant seafood researchers, recommends a salt 

 and ice mixture for speedy chilling. Advisory 

 agents are also encouraging party boats to carry 

 more ice. 



Processors, too, are increasingly interested in 

 the sports catch, Miller says. Trends point to pro- 

 cessors serving both sports and commercial fisher- 

 men, he adds. In Morehead City, Capt. Ottis's 

 processing plant — complete with scaling machine 

 — scales, fillets and packs fish in ice for a fee and 

 is willing to buy King Mackerel and other kinds of 

 fish from non-commercial fishermen. 



Sea Grant-supported research is also trying to 

 help the housewife when her sportsman returns 

 with unusual varieties of fish. Each month at the 

 Seafood Laboratory, Mrs. Styron and 11 other 

 Carteret County women pool their cooking skills 

 to create new fish recipes and find out more about 

 seafood likes and dislikes. Results of their activi- 

 ties are taken to each of the home demonstration 

 clubs they represent. 



( See "Preserving, " page U) 



