UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 



H.C.STA1 



i^m«MT(g(Q)yu"' 



January, 1979 



105 1911 Building 

 NCSU, Raleigh, N.C. 27650 Tel: (919) 737-2454 



Sea 

 Grant 



79 



Come summertime, the popula- 

 tions of three major North 

 Carolina beach resort areas in- 

 crease a whopping U2 percent. In- 

 creases such as these along our 

 shores bring dollars into the local 

 economy— travelers spent an es- 

 timated $168 million in the coastal 

 counties in 1977. But those 

 travelers also bring problems. The 

 very beaches, sounds and marshes 

 that attract them must be pro- 

 tected from the effects of in- 

 creased development, such as 

 sewage overloads. 



Though the quantity of fish be- 

 ing caught in North Carolina 

 waters has increased in recent 

 years— in 1977, seafoods brought 

 $284 million at the dock— so have 

 food needs. In the United States, 

 the need for more food taxes 

 stocks of popular fish while less 

 well-known species are not sought 

 out. On top of that, fish are af- 

 fected by man-induced changes in 

 the environment. 



North Carolina's coast has much 

 to offer and the demands on it are 

 many. But its use must be tem- 

 pered with an understanding of 

 the fragile environment. To assist 

 in the wise development of coastal 

 resources, the University of North 

 Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Program this year is supporting 20 

 coastal research projects, four 

 marine education programs, and 



13 advisory agents and specialists. 



Researchers this year are in- 

 vestigating the possibilities for 

 new seafood products, improved 

 sewage disposal, seafood safety 

 and packaging, fish management, 

 the impact of off-road vehicles on 

 sand dunes, coastal storm hazard 

 areas and much, much more. 



Advisory personnel are working 

 with the charter boat industry, 

 recreational and commercial 

 fishermen, seafood processors and 

 coastal landowners. 



A $1.4 million grant from 

 federal and state government sup- 

 ports the program. Researchers 



are located at the University of 

 North Carolina at Wilmington 

 (UNC-W), East Carolina Univer- 

 sity (ECU) in Greenville, North 

 Carolina State University (NCSU) 

 in Raleigh and the University of 

 North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

 (UNC-CH). Advisory agents are 

 located in the state's three coastal 

 Marine Resources Centers, in 

 Morehead City and in Raleigh. 



What follows is a brief descrip- 

 tion of our program for 1979. For 

 more information, contact the in- 

 dividuals named or the Sea Grant 

 office in Raleigh (see Sea Hunt?, 

 page 8). 



