tanks of water that resemble mini-estuaries. 

 Then they'll record what types of algae 

 occur and how fast they grow. ■ Stan- 

 ley and Boyer also will use the tanks, which 

 are located at the University of Rhode 

 Island's Marine Ecosystems Research Lab- 

 oratory, to look at how plants, animals and 

 fertilizers recycle certain nutrients. ■ 

 Their results may help water quality man- 

 agers regulate the supply of nutrients seep- 

 ing into the estuaries. ■ Two other Sea 

 Grant researchers believe there may be a 

 link between nutrients and the seagrass 

 that grows in the estuary. ■ Where 

 seagrass habitats along the East Coast 

 have declined, so have important fisheries. 

 Botanist Joanne Burkholder and zoologist 

 Larry Crowder of North Carolina State Uni- 

 versity want to study how environmental 

 factors and animals affect seagrass. ■ 

 Using the tanks in Rhode Island, Burk- 



Photo by Scott Taylor 



Wayne Skaggs and Wendell Gilliam will find 

 ways to keep runojj on the farm and out of the 

 estuary 



holder will determine whether nutrients 

 enhance seagrass growth or diminish it. 

 Some nutrients may cause an overabun- 

 dance of algae that would shade the beds 

 and keep the grasses from producing food. 

 The team thinks that animals further up the 

 food chain also may affect seagrass 

 growth. Crowder will use snails, fish, crabs 

 and other grazers to see if they eat the 

 algae or the grass. ■ Controlling 

 nutrients at their sources— chiefly farms, 

 wastewater treatment plants and industries 

 —is one way to inhibit algal growth. ■ 

 But to farm the wet soils of the coastal 

 plain, growers must drain water from their 

 fields. The fertilizer-laden runoff seeps into 

 the estuaries. ■ Research has shown 

 that good farm management practices 

 reduce the loss of nitrogen from fields by 

 as much as 50 percent. ■ But NCSU 

 researchers Charles Reynolds, Wendell Gil- 

 liam and Wayne Skaggs want to predict 

 with more certainty how management prac- 

 tices affect the movement of nutrients from 

 the fields to nearby waters. ■ The team 

 will compare fields with conventional 

 drainage, controlled drainage and sub- 

 irrigation. Then they'll monitor drainage 

 from the test fields for nutrient levels. ■ 

 This information will help them develop a 

 model to predict the movement of nutrients 

 to surrounding waters. ■ Once in the 

 water, nutrients do more than just float 

 downstream. They often become attached 

 to sediments that also move downstream. 

 When the biochemical conditions are right, 

 the nutrients are released. ■ All of this 



movement leaves resource managers won- 

 dering just how many nutrients are in the 

 system, where are they going and how 

 they affect estuarine productivity. ■ 

 Using lab and field experiments, East 

 Carolina University scientists William Rizzo 

 and Robert Christian plan to find out. The 

 team will determine the role of sediments in 

 removing or retaining nutrients in the state's 

 rivers and estuaries. ■ Researchers 

 John Wells and Larry Benninger of UNC- 

 Chapel Hill have a another type of sedi- 

 ment in mind. They will examine large par- 

 ticles of silt and clay called "marine snow" 

 that collect toxins from the water. ■ 

 They'll photograph the underwater snow as 

 it falls in the Neuse River to get an accurate 

 picture of the shape, settling speed and 

 alteration of these microscopic particles. 

 ■ The team also wants to find out where 

 the sediments go, at what rates, and how 

 long they stay in the storage sites where 

 they are deposited. ■ All of these proj- 

 ects aimed at establishing better water 

 quality will have one big benefit— an 

 increase in recreation and tourism in 

 coastal North Carolina. ■ NCSU econo- 

 mists Kerry Smith and Raymond Palmquist 

 want to know what North Carolina estuaries 

 are worth in terms of recreational fishing 

 and how their quality affects people's deci- 

 sions to use them. H To find out, the 

 researchers will analyze three economic 

 models. Then they'll come up with a 

 method for assessing the impact of man- 

 agement decisions on demand for 

 recreation. 



Photo by Nat Caudle 



This juvenile hybrid striped bass may be the 

 foundation for the state's next major aquaculture 

 industry 



aquacultu 



American appetites for seafood are 

 getting bigger every year. To satisfy 

 our hunger, we import half the seafood 

 we eat. ■ There's simply too much 

 demand and not enough supply. ■ 

 Aquaculture, or fish farming, alleviates 

 some of these problems. It provides a con- 

 sistent quality and steady supply. ■ 

 North Carolina already has a flourishing 

 aquaculture industry. Last year, the state 

 was the second largest producer of rain- 

 bow trout in the nation. ■ But Sea 

 Grant research over the last 10 years has 

 produced another candidate for aqua- 

 culture— the hybrid striped bass. ■ 



r e 



The hybrid is a cross between a striped 

 bass and a white bass, and Sea Grant 

 researchers have proven the fish can be 

 farm-raised in ponds. Ron Hodson, asso- 

 ciate Sea Grant director, thinks the hybrid 

 will surpass the rainbow trout as the state's 

 number-one cultured seafood. ■ Now 

 the fish is receiving its first commercial 

 test. In Beaufort County, farmer Lee Broth- 

 ers is raising a hybrid crop. If he suc- 

 ceeds, the state will have the birth of a 

 new industry. ■ Meantime, Sea Grant's 

 aquaculture team— Hodson, nutritionist 

 Margie Gallagher and economist Jim 

 Easley— will perfect the science of raising 



