Advisory services: 

 "the vital connector" 



(Continued from page 1) 



agent Skipper Crow frequently fields questions from 

 landowners in the Morehead City area who are 

 struggling with erosion problems. He refers them to 

 Ernie Seneca and Steve Broome of NCSU who have 

 successfully used grasses to deter erosion. 



Sometimes, the agents come up with a problem 

 that serves as the impetus for a new research project. 

 That's how Sea Grant got involved in a study which 

 led to the development of a new and better procedure 

 for detecting enteric viruses in seafood. Owners of 

 crab plants in coastal North Carolina complained to 

 agents at the Seafood Lab in Morehead City about the 

 short shelf life of their canned blue crab meat. 

 Researchers discovered that the reason was a high 

 bacteria level that wasn't being detected by standard 

 methods. 



"The connector" is how Sea Grant's director B. J. 

 Copeland describes the advisory service program. It's 

 the link between the people of coastal North Carolina 

 and the researchers on university campuses. 



But no advisory service agent sits around waiting 

 for researchers to come up with the answers. As ex- 

 perts in their fields, they've got the knowledge and 

 know-how to tackle a host of problems. Often they 

 seek out the individuals and businesses who could 

 profit from their experience. Agent Hughes Tillett, 

 for example, has helped to make life a little easier for 

 commercial fishermen in the Manteo area. Several 

 years ago he began introducing hydraulic-powered 

 equipment. Now many fishermen have replaced their 

 manual gear with the more efficient hydraulic gear. 



The Sea Grant advisory services program is grow- 

 ing. We will be starting off the new year by hiring a 

 full-time director of advisory services. 



But advisory agents can't work in a vacuum. Their 

 good work depends upon constant contact with the 

 people who live, work, play and do business in coastal 

 North Carolina. The names, addresses and phone 

 numbers of each member of the team are listed in 

 this newsletter. Give them a call. 



Agent Skipper Crow 



Coastal engineering 





r JTvi i i j • . i 







Parts of North Carolina's coastline are eroding at a 

 whopping rate of 15 to 20 feet per year. That adds up 

 to significant losses for those who own land along our 

 estuaries and ocean. In many cases, though, the land- 

 owner doesn't have to sit by and watch his land wash 

 away. Wise use of bulkheads or grass and tree 

 plantings can save property. 



But it takes know-how to construct an adequate 

 bulkhead. Too often landowners, the victims of inade- 

 quate information, put money into poorly designed 

 bulkheads, which actually increase the erosion 

 problems on their property. 



Good, affordable engineering advice is hard to 

 come by in coastal North Carolina. That's where 

 Spencer Rogers comes in. Rogers will join the Sea 

 Grant staff as a specialist in coastal engineering in 

 early March 1978. He has a graduate degree in coastal 

 and oceanographic engineering and is an old hand at 

 working with erosion control structures. Once he's 

 settled in his headquaters at the Marine Resources 

 Center at Fort Fisher, (919/458-5498), he'll be ready 

 to lend a hand to landowners and businesses. 



As Rogers sees it, public education is the first real 

 step in solving coastal engineering problems. Ideally, 

 buyers should know something about the erosion 

 potential of their land before they sink a lot of money 

 and hopes in it. Some areas, such as land adjacent to 

 inlets, are known to be danger spots, and Rogers 

 thinks people should be aware of that. He also 

 believes they should know about the special problems 

 of designing construction on the coast. Builders who 

 don't take extra precautions to protect against 

 storms, winds and flooding are asking for trouble. 



Private landowners aren't the only ones who have 

 trouble building for the coast. Sedimentation and 

 pollution are currently plaguing dozens of small 

 coastal marinas. The reason: the marinas aren't 

 designed for proper waste circulation. That causes 

 sediments, oil and waste from the boats to get 

 trapped in the basins. Fortunately, there are ways to 

 modify marinas to make them work better. 



Rogers will also be available to consult with of- 

 ficers who administer the state's dune protection act 

 and those who will grant permits for development in 

 areas of environmental concern, as recently 

 designated by the Coastal Resources Commission. 



