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 publi- 

 cations. For more information on any 

 of the projects described, contact the 

 Sea Grant offices in Raleigh (919/737- 

 2454). For copies of publications, 

 write UNC Sea Grant, NCSU, Box 

 8605, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8605. 



In the fall of 1987, 

 clams were bringing 

 record prices at the sea- 

 food dealer. And that 

 got folks thinking about 

 culturing the valuable 

 mollusks. 

 So in February 1988, Sea Grant 

 sponsored a workshop to teach fish- 

 ermen how to handle young "seed" 

 clams and how to rear the older clams 

 in beds, or gardens. 



More than 200 people attended the 

 workshop. And so far, at least six pro- 

 spective growers have purchased seed 

 clams to begin culture operations. And 

 many more folks are interested in set- 

 ting up operations. Sea Grant marine 

 agent Skip Kemp gets an average of 10 

 inquiries a week about raising clams. 



Sea Grant Director B.J. Copeland 

 estimates the new growers could con- 

 tribute as much as $100,000 to the 

 state's economy. And the N.C. General 

 Assembly appropriated $90,000 to test 

 the feasibility of double-cropping scal- 

 lops with hard clams. 



New Yorkers are din- 

 ing on farm-raised hy- 



brid striped bass from 

 the Tar Heel state. The 

 hybrid is a cross be- 

 tween a striped bass and 

 a white bass. And for the 

 past two years, Lee Brothers has been 

 raising the fish on his Beaufort County 

 farm. 



Brothers is the first aquaculturist in 

 North Carolina to produce a commer- 

 cial crop of the fish and the first in the 



country to produce hybrids raised in 

 ponds. 



Brothers' harvest represents the suc- 

 cess of a 10-year Sea Grant research 

 effort that proved the commercial cul- 

 ture of the hybrid was feasible. 



Bon Hodson, Sea Grant's associate 

 director and coordinator of the pro- 

 gram's aquaculture research, expects 

 the hybrid to become a big cash crop 

 for North Carolina. 



Sea Grant's research on the hybrid 

 began when wild populations of the 

 savory striped bass dwindled. Scien- 

 tists tried to raise the striper in captiv- 

 ity, but that proved difficult. Then 

 they figured out how to cross the 

 striper with a white bass. The result 

 was a hardy hybrid. 



At first, the hybrid was only stocked 

 in recreational ponds and lakes. But 

 Sea Grant researchers proved the hy- 

 brid could be farm-raised, like catfish. 



Brothers put the hybrid to its tough- 

 est test. And in November, he began 

 harvesting fish for market. They aver- 

 age 1?2 pounds. So far, he has marketed 

 his crop in New York where the fish 

 are being served primarily in upscale 

 restaurants. 



Hodson believes that Brothers' oper- 

 ation is just what the state's fledgling 

 aquaculture industry needs. A success- 

 ful harvest will encourage others to try 

 fish farming. 



For more information on aquacul- 

 ture, contact Hodson at Sea Grant, Box 

 8605, NCSU, Baleigh, N.C. 27695- 

 8605. 



When it comes to the 

 test of taste, the hybrid 

 striped bass is getting 

 rave reviews. Sea Grant 

 seafood education spe- 

 cialist Joyce Taylor per- 

 formed a series of taste 

 tests with an informal consumer panel. 

 She treated the panel to such delicacies 

 as poached bass with caper sauce and 

 barbecued bass. 



And the hybrid scored well. In fact, 

 the taste panel preferred the pond- 

 raised fish over the wild striper in most 

 of the recipes. 



The panelists scored the hybrids 

 higher on freshness, flavor and firm 

 texture. 



But those high scores could be 

 attributed to the hybrid's freshness. 

 The wild stripers had been on ice for 

 several days before use. 



The pond-raised hybrids also fared 

 well in the lab. Sea Grant seafood 

 extension specialist David Green and 

 NCSU food scientist Leon Boyd eval- 

 uated the hybrid's composition. 



They found that wild stripers were 

 meatier than the hybrid, but the hy- 

 brids were leaner. And they found that 

 the pond-raised hybrids were higher in 

 the more desirable polyunsaturated 

 fats. 



For more information about the lab 

 tests on the hybrid striped bass, call 

 David Green at 919/726-7341. 



Just a reminder: Proposals for Sea 

 Grant's 1990-1991 funding period are 

 due April 14. If you're a researcher and 

 would like to submit a proposal, call 

 the Sea Grant office in Baleigh. 



Commercial and rec- 

 reational fishermen seek 

 out the Gulf Stream and 

 its eddies because of the 

 fish that travel its path. 

 But finding this mean- 

 dering corridor of water 

 isn't always easy. 



So Sea Grant agent Jim Bahen came 

 up with a program that may make your 

 fishing trips more fruitful. 



The Gulf Stream Information Pro- 

 gram provides fishermen with up-to- 

 date readings on the Gulf Stream. Sub- 

 scribers receive weekly charts that plot 

 its width, average speed and path. 



The charts are relayed from the 

 National Weather Service's National 

 Environmental Satellite Service each 

 Wednesday morning. By noon, Bahen 

 has shipped copies of the chart to his 

 more than 200 subscribers, and they 

 have the information in time for their 

 weekend fishing trips. 



To cover the cost of handling and 



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