Zoologist Crowder will monitor 

 seagrass grazers (snails, fish, crabs 

 and others) to determine whether they 

 dine on the algae or the grass. This 

 grazing may change how the grass 

 responds to additional nutrients. 



Fisheries 



North Carolina's commercial 

 fishermen are baffled. 



Some years they pull up nets bulg- 

 ing with fish. Other times, the nets 

 come up nearly clean. 



The phenomenon has fisheries 

 managers scratching their heads and 

 scientists searching for answers. 



Researchers John Miller and Len 

 Pietrafesa from NCSU say the fluctua- 

 tions may be linked to how young fish 

 move from the ocean into the state's 

 estuaries. 



When adult fish spawn offshore, 

 only a small percentage of their young 

 survive. The small fish must migrate to 

 protective estuaries to thrive. 



Miller and Pietrafesa will study the 

 pathway young fish take to enter the 

 inlets and will learn how the ocean 

 currents and sound circulation com- 

 bine to affect a successful migration to 

 nursery areas critical to their survival. 



The size of larval and juvenile fish 

 as they enter the estuaries may also 

 affect their survival, say NCSU zoologists 

 Jim Rice and Larry Crowder. 



With computer models and field ex- 

 periments, the team will determine 

 how big young spot must be to sur- 



