Panel hears Sea Grant 

 plans for '75 projects 



The UNC Sea Grant Program underwent its 

 annual review Oct. 2 and 3 at East Carolina Uni- 

 versity. Some 25 research, education and advisory 

 services projects proposed for 1975 were presented 

 to an eight member committee for review and 

 recommendations. 



The review team, selected by the Office of Sea 

 Grant in Washington, D. C, included representa- 

 tives of government, university and business. 

 Members of the review panel were Dr. Sanford S. 

 Atwood, president of Emory University; Arthur 

 Alexiou, director of Institutional Support Pro- 

 grams of the Office of Sea Grant; Kenneth Hong, 

 Office of Programs and Budget of the National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; former 

 North Carolina congressman Alton A. Lennon, 

 Wilmington attorney; Walter J. Gray, director of 

 the New England Marine Resources Information 

 Program; Dr. Theodore R. Rice, director of the 

 Atlantic Estuarine Fisheries Center in Beaufort; 

 David Duane, Institutional Support Program of 

 the Office of Sea Grant; and William C. Brewer, 

 general counsel for NOAA. 



Remarks by Dr. Arthur W. Cooper, assistant 

 secretary of the N. C. Department of Natural and 

 Economic Resources, Dr. E. Walton Jones, asso- 

 ciate vice-president of the University of North 

 Carolina, and Dr. Robert L. Holt, East Carolina 

 University vice-chancellor, opened the meeting. 



Bruce A. Lentz, secretary of the N. C. Depart- 

 ment of Administration, concluded Wednesday's 

 presentations with comments on the state's in- 

 terest in the Sea Grant Program. 



Sea Grant is supported by funds from the N. C. 

 Department of Administration and the U. S. De- 

 partment of Commerce's National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration. 



After a morning session of review with program 

 administrators, the review panel flew to Manteo 

 to meet with members of the Sound and Sea Fish- 

 ermen's Association at the cooperative's handling 

 plant in Wanchese. After a lunch of boiled shrimp 

 and steamed crab, the committee got a bird's-eye 

 view of the state's Outer Banks from the air as they 

 flew to Beaufort. There they toured Charles Davis' 

 menhaden and fish processing plants. 



The University of North Carolina Sea Grant Program 

 Newsletter is published monthly by the University of North 

 Carolina Sea Grant Program, 1235 Burlington Laboratories, 

 Yarborough Drive, North Carolina State University, 

 Raleigh, N. C. 27607. Vol. 1, No. 7, November, 1974. Dr. 

 B. J. Copeland, director. Dixie Berg, editor, Second-class 

 postage paid at Raleigh, N. C. 27611. 



Research on how to grow eels to fill export 

 demands are underway in North Carolina. 



Tarheel eels raised 

 for foreign markets 



Eel isn't one of those foods that Americans 

 clamor for at their favorite restaurants. But in 

 Europe and Japan, already high demand for the 

 slippery creature is growing. 



North Carolina's coastal waters serve as home 

 for the American eel during a major part of its 

 life. With world demand increasing and local eel 

 supplies abundant, the possibility of exporting eels 

 from coastal North Carolina appears promising. 

 One way to meet the long-term demand on a regu- 

 lar basis is to grow eels in tanks and ponds and 

 export them after they are grown. 



Already eel export has become a thriving busi- 

 ness in eastern North Carolina. Exports from this 

 state are estimated to have jumped from 70,000 

 pounds in 1972 to 500,000 pounds in 1973. 



Norman B. Angel, Sea Grant advisory services 

 specialist and industrial extension agent, has de- 

 voted much of the past year to exploring the 

 potential of eel culture in eastern North Carolina 

 and marketing eels in Europe and Asia. He has 

 been assisted by Walter B. Jones. Support for the 

 eel research was granted by the Coastal Plains 

 Regional Commission, Sea Grant and the NCSU 

 Industrial Extension Service. 



Specifically the researchers investigated the 

 feasibility of growing young wild eels captured in 

 North Carolina waters to marketable size under 

 controlled conditions. 



Their study encompassed all aspects of eel cul- 

 ture, including capturing and handling young eels, 

 or elvers, picking the site for a culture operation 

 and constructing tanks and ponds, diet and disease 

 control. 



The researchers' findings and recommendations 

 have been published in a report, "Aquaculture of 

 the American Eel." It is available from Angel at 

 P. O. Box 1125, New Bern, N. C. 28560. 



