TlieBack Pa 



"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 publications. For 

 more information on any of the projects 

 described, contact the Sea Grant offices in 

 Raleigh (919/737-2454). For copies of pub- 

 lications, write UNC Sea Grant, Box 8605, 

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



When North Carolina's 

 shrimp fishermen haul in 

 their nets, they usually catch 

 more than just shrimp. Fin- 

 fish and other sea creatures 

 are caught with them. 

 For shrimpers, the bycatch can be a 

 nuisance. Because they're only after 

 shrimp, they cull the other fish and toss 

 them back into the water. Some of the by- 

 catch don't survive. Also, culling is time- 

 consuming for shrimpers; and too much 

 bycatch can reduce the quality of the 

 shrimp catch. 



But shrimpers aren't alone in concerns 

 over bycatch. Fishermen who seek the 

 species thrown overboard by shrimpers 

 say reduced bycatch will increase the 

 number of fish they haul in. 



That's where Sea Grant comes in. Marine 

 Advisory Service agent Jim Bahen and 

 others are beginning to gather ideas from 

 shrimpers on how their gear can be im- 

 proved to separate finfish from shrimp nets. 



Since November, some progress has 

 been made. With the N.C. Division of 

 Marine Fisheries, Sea Grant set up a by- 

 catch advisory committee that held its first 

 meeting December 12. 



During the meeting, committee mem- 

 bers compared notes on the status of by- 

 catch research and agreed to hold a 

 workshop later in the year. 



Meanwhile, Bahen continues his investi- 

 gations into ways to construct finfish 

 separator devices that could reduce by- 

 catch by 50 percent. He hopes to come 

 up with at least three designs that will be 

 tested in laboratories and on commercial 

 shrimping vessels. 

 "The key to the project's success will be 



the ideas we obtain while interviewing 

 shrimpers," Bahen says. "Collectively, they 

 have thousands of years on the water and 

 I am confident we can use their sugges- 

 tions to come up with a feasible design." 



Landlubbers, let your 

 senses explore the sights, 

 sounds, tastes and feel of 

 coastal North Carolina at 

 the Second Annual Coastal 

 Celebration in Raleigh. The 

 two-day event will feature entertainment, 

 educational exhibits, activities for the kids 

 and authentic coastal fare. 



You can hear champion goose caller 

 Erleen Snow from Currituck and the 

 rhythmic cadence of the Menhaden 

 Chanteymen singers. For a feel for the 

 coast, let your fingers do the walking at 

 the marine touch tank. And let the smell of 

 fried fish and Stump Sound stew lure you 

 to pay the price of a good coastal meal. 

 And there's more. 



The celebration will feature more than 

 40 educational exhibits. Sea Grant, the 

 N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the 

 N.C. Aquariums, the N.C. Maritime Museum 

 and others will man exhibits that will teach 

 folks what makes our coast unique. 



And bring the kids. There will be special 

 activities that will heighten your children's 

 awareness of our coastal environment. 



Sponsored by WRAL, the Coastal Cele- 

 bration will be held in the Kerr Scott 

 Building at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in 

 Raleigh, April 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 

 April 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's free and 

 open to the public. 



Stop by the Sea Grant booth. We'll be 

 happy to tell you about our latest research 

 and extension projects. 



Working papers dealing with artificial 

 reef programs and fisheries management 

 policies have been published by Sea 

 Grant. 



A Policy and Management Assessment 

 of Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Artificial 

 Reef Programs by Sea Grant's Marine 



Advisory Service Director Jim Murray 

 examines artificial reef programs in 12 

 coastal states from Texas to New Jersey. 



Murray describes the status of the arti- 

 ficial reef programs and provides recom- 

 mendations to develop effective state 

 policies for artificial reef management. 



A Methodology for the Analysis of 

 Fishery Management Policies, with an Ex- 

 ample of the North Carolina Brown Shrimp 

 Fishery by Marc-david Cohen uses 

 mathematical models to help determine 

 the best opening dates for the brown 

 shrimp fishery. 



Murray's paper is $3 and Cohen's is 

 $3.50. To order copies, send a check or 

 money order to UNC Sea Grant, Box 8605, 

 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 

 N.C. 27695-8605. 



The Indians had a great 

 idea. When European col- 

 onists began to settle 

 America's coastal areas in 

 the early 1600s, they were 

 intrigued by the Indian's 

 use of fish as fertilizer. Contemporary 

 observers noted that Indian farmers 

 dropped a small fish into each hill of corn 

 planted. 



Sea Grant's Rich Novak, a regional 

 marine specialist on Roanoke Island, has 

 taken the idea of fish fertilizer a step fur- 

 ther. He's used waste from a fish-cleaning 

 operation to make a form of compost 

 that's raised the eyebrows of at least one 

 coastal vegetable farmer. 



Novak says his compost pile serves two 

 purposes: it provides good fertilizer for 

 vegetables, shrubs and other vegetation, 

 and it demonstrates that fish waste doesn't 

 have to be dumped offshore or into area 

 landfills. 



The compost pile was constructed of a 

 layer of oyster shells (gravel works well, 

 too), a layer of PVC pipe for aeration, a 

 layer of peat moss or cornstalks, fish waste 

 mixed with peat or wood chips and a final 

 layer of peat, cornstalks or chips. The pile 

 was not turned during the composting 

 period, which took from 40 to 75 days. 



A video on the composting project has 



