THE BACK PAGE 



"The Back Page" is an update on Sea 

 Grant activities— on research, marine 

 education and advisory services. It's 

 also a good place to find out about 

 meetings, workshops and new publica- 

 tions. For more information on any of 

 the projects described, contact the Sea 

 Grant offices in Raleigh (919/787-2U5U). 

 For copies of publications, write UNC 

 Sea Grant, NCSU, Box 8605, Raleigh, 

 N.C. 27695-8605. 



Andy Wood had heard 

 of playing volleyball or an 

 occasional game of base- 

 ball on the beach. But un- 

 til Sept. 24, he'd never 

 heard of beach bowling. 

 Wood, one of the regional 

 coordinators for Beach Sweep '88, said 

 volunteers for the cleanup found a bowl- 

 ing ball from Brazil on Wrightsville 

 Beach. 



The ball was one of the more curious 

 finds gathered during Beach Sweep. 

 Altogether, volunteers collected more 

 than 47 tons of trash during the four- 

 hour cleanup. Items ranged from plastic 

 bottles and bags to lawn chairs and 

 mattresses. 



Beach Sweep '88 brought 3,500 peo- 

 ple to North Carolina's coast, three 

 times the number from last year's clean- 

 up. As volunteers cleared the beaches 

 from Duck to Sunset Beach, they record- 

 ed each piece of trash on data cards. 

 Final tallies will be made by the Center 

 for Environmental Education and the 

 Environmental Protection Agency in 

 Washington, D.C. 



"From all accounts, Beach Sweep— 

 coastwide— was a major success," says 

 Lundie Spence, Sea Grant's marine 

 education specialist and one of the coor- 

 dinators for the event. "The volunteers 

 were really enthusiastic," she added. 

 And, "The public support and the media 

 were outstanding." 



Spence also noted that some volun- 

 teers who had participated in Beach 

 Sweep '87 said that many of the public 

 beaches were cleaner this year. One 

 reason may be new trash cans, but 

 Spence says greater public awareness 

 may have helped, too. 



The wild, more isolated areas such as 

 Shackleford Banks and Masonboro 

 Island, however, have not improved, 

 Spence says. And for her, that's all it 

 takes to start planning Beach Sweep '89. 



From time to time, 

 Coastwatch spotlights 

 some of Sea Grant's re- 

 search. We want our read- 

 ers to know more about 

 the problems Sea Grant 

 scientists are trying to 

 solve. But we also want you to know 

 about the benefits of Sea Grant research 

 and extension programs. 



This month, Coastwatch begins a new 

 series of reports in "The Back Page" that 

 will bring you up-to-date on the results 

 we've achieved with our program. 



Before Sea Grant marine agents or- 

 ganized the first North Carolina Com- 

 mercial Fishing Show, the state's 

 fishermen did not have accessibility to 

 new developments and technologies in 

 the industry. 



Now, the annual show features more 

 than 60 exhibitors demonstrating the 

 latest in fisheries technology and a 

 series of seminars on fishery trends and 

 techniques. 



The show generates more than $1 mil- 

 lion in sales for its exhibitors. And in 

 1987, the Carteret County Waterman's 

 Association assumed control of the 

 show, enabling them to make a profit 

 that will support their activities. 



Sea Grant agent Bob Hines became 

 a "First Mate" this summer without 

 even stepping on a boat. Hines received 

 the "First Mate of the Year Award" from 

 the Carteret County Waterman's Asso- 

 ciation at a dinner in his honor in July. 



The group of Eastern North Carolina 

 fishermen also presented Hines with a 

 VHF radio scanner at the dinner in 

 Morehead City. 



Hines was recognized for his support 

 of the association and his work with the 

 North Carolina Fishing Show. Hines 

 started the show in 1982 and has con- 

 tinued to serve as a coordinator until this 

 year. 



"We are deeply appreciative of Bob's 



help in guiding us to the point where we 

 are able to be primary sponsors of the 

 show," write the watermen in their 

 August newsletter. "The N.C. Commer- 

 cial Fishing Show has been a huge ben- 

 efit to the Carteret County Waterman's 

 Association. It has opened many doors 

 for us, and established us in the com- 

 munity as an organization." 



Meadows of seagrass 

 line the bottom of North 

 Carolina's sounds and 

 tidal creeks. These grass- 

 es provide food and pro- 

 tection for the state's 

 young fish, and they con- 

 tribute to the health of our estuaries. 



Two types of seagrasses grow in 

 North Carolina's sounds— northern eel 

 grass and southern turtle grass. Both 

 are flowering plants with small yellow 

 buds enclosed in jelly-like sheaths. Each 

 plant can produce 500 to 1,000 seeds 

 each season. Fish and waterfowl pick 

 and eat the seeds for food. Some seeds 

 are buried by mud-burrowing organ- 

 isms. The seeds that survive sprout in- 

 to mature grasses in about two years. 



Large seagrass beds are an under- 

 water world of activity. Young scallops 

 find shelter at the base of the leaves. Sea 

 horses wrap their bony tails around the 

 long, slender blades. Juvenile fish dart 

 through the grasses to find food and pro- 

 tection from predators. Millions of bur- 

 rowing animals such as shrimp, worms 

 and small crabs dig about the roots. And 

 myriads of microscopic plants and ani- 

 mals attach to the blades forming the 

 base of a food web. 



The productivity within the seagrass 

 beds is vital to the health of our estuar- 

 ies. But seagrasses are in trouble. 



Once-healthy beds along the East 

 Coast and around the world are dying. 

 The huge grass beds of Chesapeake Bay, 

 for example, have almost disappeared. 

 Where seagrass habitats have declined, 

 so have important fisheries and the 

 number of visiting waterfowl. 



Two Sea Grant scientists want to 

 study North Carolina's seagrass beds 

 before it's too late. 



Continued on next page 



