Fisheries agents: masters at hat-switching 



It doesn't state anywhere in the job description 

 that an advisory agent must know a little about a lot. 

 But if you've worked with marine advisory agents 

 Jim Bahen, Skipper Crow or Hughes Tillett, then you 

 know it's a prerequisite. Although each of the agent's 

 work focuses on the activities of commercial fisher- 

 men, they're there to help whoever they can. As a 

 result their job routines are as changeable and un- 

 predictable as the winds. 



On a given morning you might find Jim Bahen 

 down on the fishing docks at Carolina Beach helping 

 a fisherman learn how to work a new trawl design. Or 

 you might find Hughes Tillett at Ocracoke helping a 

 clam farmer install some new pens, while Skipper 

 Crow is arranging a meeting between a fish dealer in 

 Morehead City and a wholesaler in Omaha. 



By afternoon, Bahen will be handing out new tax 

 law information to fishermen, while Tillett is work- 

 ing on a new hydraulic winch system, and Crow is 

 answering questions over the phone about wild eel 

 harvesting. 



Nothing is typical about an advisory agent's day. 

 Hat-switching is the name of the game. According to 

 field supervisor Jim McGee, "In a single day they'll 

 have several roles to play." 



It takes a special person to be an advisory agent to 

 North Carolina fishermen. The agent has to know 

 where the fisherman's greatest problems are and how 

 to anticipate his needs. In a sense, the agent is like an 



information clearinghouse. If he doesn't have the 

 answer to a problem or question right at his finger 

 tips, he'll direct you to someone who does. And if no 

 one else has the answers, then he'll take it upon him- 

 self to find out why. 



Covering the more than 300 miles of North 

 Carolina coast is no easy task. The thousands of 

 nooks and crannies which characterize the coast 

 make travel time consuming. But travel is extremely 

 important if each agent is to gain the level of 

 visibility that he needs to be effective. 



Jim Bahen began his work as fisheries agent last 

 spring. Since then, he's come a long way to gain the 

 respect and confidence of area fishermen. Bahen is 

 headquartered at the Marine Resources Center at 

 Fort Fisher (919/458-5498) and is reponsible for the 

 southern portion of the state. A man of many in- 

 terests, his primary attention has been focused on 

 gear development and looking at North Carolina 

 fisheries for black sea bass and rock shrimp. Bahen 

 will go to any length to get the information he needs. 

 In the fall he traveled to Oregon for a workshop on 

 the new Loran C navigation system conversion. Dur- 

 ing the summer he joined forces with the state 

 Department of Commerce to take a group of North 

 Carolina boat builders to Alabama for some stern 

 trawler rigging demonstrations. 



Since 197.3, Skipper Crow has been a valuable part 

 of Sea Grant's advisory work. He's located at the 



Marine Resources Center at Bogue Banks (919/726- 

 0125) and works with fishermen along the central 

 section of the coast, including Morehead City. Along 

 with his many other advisory activities, Crow shows 

 a flair for business management and understanding 

 market mechanisms. He's a real asset to fishermen 

 who need help in tapping new markets, some as far 

 away as Memphis and Kansas City, and learning 

 about the potential for underutilized species. 



For Hughes Tillett, exposure is not a problem. 

 Tillett is a well-seasoned agent whose early years as a 

 commercial fisherman make his face a familiar site 

 at the docks. Tillett is based at the Marine Resources 

 Center in Manteo (919/473-3937) and covers the en- 

 tire northern section of the coast, including the Outer 

 Banks. Like all Sea Grant agents, he dabbles in a 

 number of projects. But Tillett is particularly well 

 versed in clam and oyster culture, hydraulics, and pot 

 and trap development. If he's not answering the 

 barrage of requests for information, he's in the field 

 helping small-time fishermen install hydraulic pot 

 pullers, demonstrating the versatility of the floating 

 pound net, or updating a hang log which will even- 

 tually cover the entire North Carolina coast. 



Our fisheries agents make up a pretty incredible 

 team. We think they're hard to stump. If you have a 

 question or a problem you think they can help with, 

 don't hesitate to give them a call. 



Land use planning: key to the wise development of our coast 



Land use planning for our coastal areas is not the 

 kind of academic issue that is better left to the politi- 

 cians. It's essential to the everyday life of all com- 



unities. Only good planning will assure a healthy 



lance of unpolluted recreation space and sufficient 

 land for orderly development. 



In short, it's everybody's business. That's why 

 Simon Baker, Sea Grant's land use specialist, has 

 recently turned his attentions to public education. 

 Baker believes that if people are to help make wise 

 decisions, they need to know something about the en- 

 vironmental and economic issues at stake. 



Last year Baker and graduate student Les 

 Thornbury produced a 30-minute color documentary 

 film designed to do just that. "An Act To Protect" ex- 

 amines the landmark Coastal Area Management Act 

 and the problems which led to its passage in 1974. So 

 far, it has been presented over the UNC-TV network 

 twice. Copies of the film are now available for view- 

 ing by individuals and groups. If you're interested, 

 call or write Baker at the Sea Grant headquarters on 

 the N. C. State University campus (919/7.37-2454). 



Baker also helped to design a poster on the state's 

 commercial fisheries for North Carolina's school 



children and authored "A Citizen's Guide to North 

 Carolina's Shifting Inlets." This book of aerial 

 photographs tells the story of the migration of our 23 

 active inlets. 



An expert in aerial photography, Baker just put his 

 skills to work on a project that could prove crucial 

 in the aftermath of a major coastal storm. Working 

 with the Raleigh squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, he 

 took a series of 440 oblique angle slides of all 320 

 miles of North Carolina's coastline. By comparing 

 these slides with those taken right after a coastal 

 storm, the staff of the Division of Civil Preparedness 

 in Raleigh will be able to make speedy assessment of 

 damage. That could mean that aid will get to the 

 stricken area sooner. 



During 1978 Baker is going to try to bring the 

 problems of the coast to the attention of those who 

 live in inland areas. That's because he's convinced 

 that some of the major users of the coast live in other 

 sections of the state most of the year. Headlining his 

 plans is a series of two-day coastal film festivals 

 which will be presented on university campuses all 



Walt Jones (left) explains eel feeding techniques 



Down on the eel farm 



Down on the farm in New Bern, the eels are getting 

 fatter and tastier by the year. That's what the ex- 

 perts said when Sea Grant's cultured eels were sub- 

 mitted to taste tests in two Japanese restaurants in 

 New York this year. 



It was just one of many encouraging signs that 

 Walt Jones, John Foster and Bill Rickards got on the 

 operation of their experimental eel farm. Now in its 

 fourth year, the eel farm was established to see if the 

 American eel could be profitably raised in eastern 

 North Carolina. So far, the prospects look good. These 

 skinny fish are in demand in the Orient and Europe, 

 where they are considered real delicacies. 



The eels are frequently harvested from outdoor 

 ponds to be tested and weighed. With the special diet 

 and feeding techniques developed at the farm, the 

 eels have consistently reached a marketable size of 

 one-quarter to one-half pounds in an average of 18 

 months. In the wild, that kind of growth takes about 

 four to five years. Each spring the ponds are 

 restocked with young eels or elvers which Jones and 

 Foster trap in nearby rivers. 



During 1978 the researchers will be trying to find 

 out how much fishing of adult eels or elvers can be 

 done without endangering the population. This study 

 is especially important because of the development of 

 an eel fishing industry in North Carolina over the 

 past several years. With the help of Sea Grant ad- 

 visory agents, it has become lucrative part-time work 

 for about 350 fishermen. 



The eel farm is a demonstration project, so Jones 

 and Foster welcome visitors. If you'd like to see how 

 the operation works, give them a call in New Bern 

 919/633-0414. Rickards, director of the project, also 

 serves as associate director of the Sea Grant 

 Program. He can be reached at 919/737-2454 on the 

 N. C. State University campus. 



