A service 

 for big and 

 small seafood 

 processors 



Seafood processors: 



If you've got a problem 

 understanding or com- 

 plying with regulations 

 on effluent discharge, 

 contact the following 

 people. They will provide 

 assistance or help you 

 contact someone who 

 can. 



Clark Callaway 

 or 



Ted Miller 

 P.O. Box 51 

 Morehead City, N.C. 



28557 

 (919) 726-7341 



Maybe you never thought of yourself as a "seafood processor." Sure, you 

 head a few shrimp and sell them to your neighbors during season, but you'd 

 never call yourself a "seafood processor." 



But in the government's eye, you are just that, especially if you get rid of 

 shrimp heads or other wastes by tossing them back into the water. 



The same rules that make it illegal for big processors to put tons of shrimp 

 heads and other wastes into the water apply to you no matter how small. 

 Like the big boys, you've got to get a permit that tells you just how much 

 waste you can dispose in the river, sound or ocean. 



The government also says that whether you're big or small, you've got 

 to treat or "clean-up" wastes before they're released into any body of 

 navigable water. Treating simply means removing organisms or chemicals 

 from wastes that might be harmful to the environment. 



You've got until July, 1977 to be using the best practical means of treating 

 wastes, the government says. By 1983, you should have the best methods 

 available to remove pollutants from wastes. 



If you're like a lot of other folks, you're probably not sure what all that 

 means. But whatever, you figure it rings of money. And because you're only 

 a part-time processor, you reckon it's probably going to cost more than you 

 can afford. 



But don t despair. 



There are folks around who want to help you understand what the new 

 regulations mean and how you can comply. Their assistance is for all 

 processors, big and small. 



Clark Callaway and Ted Miller at the Sea Grant Seafood Laboratory in 

 Morehead City and Frank Thomas, seafood advisory services specialist at 

 N.C. State University in Raleigh, are the folks to know if you need assistance 

 in understanding or complying with the regulations. Roy Carawan, an 

 NCSU food engineering extension specialist, is assisting them. 



None of them claim to have all the answers. But by working with the 

 industry, they hope to learn. Since their work, supported by the Coastal 

 Plains Regional Commission and UNC Sea Grant, began in September, 

 they've focused on scallop processing. Other kinds of seafood processing — 

 finfish, blue crab, clams, oysters, shrimp, and fish and crab meal — will get 

 their attention during the next two years. 



By giving Callaway, Miller and Thomas your opinions and showing them 

 your problems, you could have a voice in shaping government guidelines for 

 treating plant discharge. Through Sea Grant and agriculture extension 

 agents, seafood trade associations and state agencies involved in the seafood 

 industry, your voice may be heard during hearings on the guidelines as they 

 undergo revision. 



Callaway, Miller and Thomas will continue working with Tarheel pro- 

 cessing plants to collect data needed to assist in complying with the new 

 discharge controls. In studies at the plants, they'll collect samples to take to 

 the lab for analysis of the kinds and quantities of pollutants the samples 

 contain. And they'll look at how seafood processing plants are laid out to 

 determine if some small change, or the addition of a small piece of equipment, 

 could reduce the amount of water used and the amount of discharge produced. 



With this information, they will meet individually or in groups with 

 processors to suggest helpful changes. Through these meetings and through 

 informational materials, Callaway, Thomas and Miller will be seeing that all 

 processors — big and small — get the assistance they need to live up to the 

 spirit of the new law. 



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. 3, No. 1, 

 January, 1976. Dr. B. J. Copeland, director. Dixie Berg, editor. Second-class postage paid 

 at Raleigh, N.C. 27611. 



