director Bill Rickards and technicians John Foster 

 and Jack McCauley are continuing experiments with 

 nutrition and pond production dynamics. The farm is 

 a demonstration project and is open to the public. For 

 an appointment or more information, call 737-2454 in 

 Raleigh. 



NCSU fisheries biologists Howard Kerby and Mel 

 Huish plan to run another type of aquaculture experi- 

 ment at Aurora this year. They will crossbreed 

 striped bass with white bass and white perch. It's a 

 known fact that certain hybrids can improve fish 

 stocks, but so far no one has experimented on a large 

 scale with these particular hybrids. If successful, 

 their work could be the beginning of a new type of 

 commercial aquaculture. 



Sometimes tradition is a casualty in the march of 

 progress. Harker's Island, for instance, is one of 

 North Carolina's oldest traditional fishing and boat 

 building communities. But increased tourism in re- 

 cent years has begun to radically affect this little 

 island. Anthropologist Marcus Hepburn has been liv- 

 ing on the island for the past year, studying the social 

 organization, labor attitudes and general way of life 

 of the islanders. Anthropologists Jim Sabella and 

 Richard Dixon and political scientist Roger Lowery of 

 UNC-W hope that a better understanding of this 

 community will help open channels of communica- 

 tion between the islanders and the management 

 agencies which affect them. 



Coastal studies 



North Carolina's coast is a changing, dynamic 

 place. While the dunes, beaches and sounds have the 

 look of permanence, they are always changing. Sand 

 grains shift and accumulate in one place one year and 

 in another the next. Inlets open, close, or simply wan- 

 der. The constant battering of winds and waves 

 shapes the coast. Sea level is rising and in some areas 

 land is subsiding. The mainland gradually is being 

 gobbled up while the barrier islands move westward. 



In the midst of all that impermanence, man has 

 pitched his tent and imposed his boundaries. Homes 

 and businesses continue to spread across the coast. 

 Tourists flock in. Fishermen continue to ply the 

 waters. The demands on the coast are many. While 

 man and science can't tame nature, there are ways to 

 live in greater harmony with the dynamic coastal en- 

 vironment. To help learn how, Sea Grant is funding 

 five research projects in coastal studies this year. 



Vegetation plays a crucial role in stabilizing the 

 coast. Where grasses grow, sand is trapped and ac- 

 cumulates. This year, Sea Grant-supported 

 researchers are taking a look at two areas where the 

 grasses are important. 



In recent years, NCSU botanists have established 

 that marsh grasses can in some cases be used to slow 

 and even reverse estuarine shoreline erosion. This 

 year Ernie Seneca, Steve Broome and oceanographer 

 Ernie Knowles are continuing their efforts to deter- 

 mine just where and under what conditions the 

 grasses can take hold and work. The information will 



be provided to homeowners, county agents and Sea 

 Grant advisory agents. 



Just as the marsh grasses play a crucial role in es- 

 tuarine stabilization, other grasses protect beach 

 sand dunes. Where those grasses are destroyed, 

 dunes — and nearby development — are more suscep- 

 tible to the destructive forces of nature. In 

 preliminary studies last year, biologists at UNC-W 

 learned that steady traffic from off-road vehicles 

 (ORVs) on the dunes depletes grass supplies. Paul 

 Hosier and Tom Eaton found that in one study area 

 the ORVs kept the sand so churned up that only half 

 as many grass species were present. They also found 

 that the grassy area behind dunes usually was 

 destroyed. 



This year Hosier and Eaton are continuing their 

 studies of ORV impacts on the beach-dune environ- 

 ment. In addition to the grasses, they are studying 

 beach profile changes, overwash, sand transport and 

 intertidal organisms. The information will be 

 provided to federal, state and local officials charged 

 with management of the more than 300 miles of 

 beach in North Carolina. 



Grasses of course provide little protection from the 

 severe storms which strike our coast. For example a 



Off-road vehicles leave their mark 



