TheBack 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 



Fisheries enforcement 

 officials along the East 

 Coast are clamping down 

 on the soaking of sea 

 scallops. 

 By immersing sea scallop 

 meats in water for several hours, the edible 

 abductor muscle inflates, says Sea Grant's 

 seafood specialist David Green. 

 Why swell a sea scallop? 

 Northeast sea scallops have been over- 

 harvested, and the mollusks netted are 

 often small. Too small, in fact, to meet the 

 minimum harvest sizes imposed by the 

 New England Fishery Management 

 Council. 



To dodge size limitations, some fisher- 

 men and processors are steeping the 

 scallops to inflate their size. But the dunk- 

 ing is illegal in most East Coast states, in- 

 cluding North Carolina. 



A Massachusetts processor was shut 

 down and 1,500 pounds of sea scallops 

 were confiscated because the plant was 

 handling soaked scallops. Enforcement of- 

 ficials with the N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries are also monitoring Tar Heel 

 plants that frequently process sea scallops. 



Green says processors and fishermen 

 should be aware of the regulations about 

 soaking. 



But, he adds, the soaked mollusks do 

 not pose any health risk to the public. The 

 added water will only make the scallops 

 splatter more in the frying pan. 



If seafood specialist David Green has 

 anything to do with it, crayfish will no 

 longer be just a Louisiana commodity. 



Green has been working with Pamlico 

 County seafood processor Tom Caroon to 

 develop a processing procedure for the 

 Bayou crustacean. 



He's worked out handling methods that 

 will meet sanitation standards and process- 

 ing time temperatures. With this informa- 

 tion, Tom Thumb Seafood can now handle 

 as much as 1,000 pounds of crayfish a day. 



Handling crayfish may help crab pro- 

 cessors extend their work season. Crayfish 

 are harvested from mid-March until early 

 June, but blue crab season doesn't peak 

 until July. 



And Green says that plants which are 

 certified as crustacean plants by the N.C. 

 Division of Shellfish Sanitation can process 

 crayfish with their existing equipment and 

 a few modifications. 



Green has also been looking into can- 

 ning and pickling the crustaceans. 



For more information about processing 

 crayfish, call Green at 919/726-7341. 



Sea Grant's coastal 

 engineer Spencer Rogers 

 says prospective buyers of 

 coastal property should 

 disregard the safety score- 

 card issued for beach com- 

 munities in April by a Duke University 

 geologist. 



He says the "best and worst" list of 25 

 coastal communities is oversimplified and 

 could lead those shopping for coastal real 

 estate to make unwise decisions. 



The list, compiled by Orrin Pilkey Jr., a 

 Duke University geologist, and Todd Miller, 

 executive director of the N.C. Coastal Fed- 

 eration, ranked communities according to 

 the natural characteristics, anticipated 

 development and physical changes, qual- 

 ity of management and potential danger to 

 people. 



But Rogers says the rankings overgen- 

 eralize the safety of a site by comparing 

 large sections of shoreline. 



"You can't categorize a community or 

 island by the level of risk on part of the 

 island," Rogers says. "You have to be site 

 specific." 



According to Pilkey's scorecard, 

 Brunswick County's Sunset Beach was 

 rated the safest coastal community; North 

 Topsail Shores in Onslow County, the 

 riskiest. 



Sunset Beach earned Pilkey's accolades 

 because its beaches are accreting instead 

 of eroding. But Rogers says that hasn't 

 always been the case. 



Sunset Beach has had periods when 

 the island lost 25 feet of sand per year, he 

 says. A new inlet was cut in the southwest 

 end during Hurricane Hazel in 1954, and 

 parts of the northeast end have been open 

 water as recently as the late 1960s. 



And Rogers questioned the reliability of 

 Sunset Beach's floating bridge if storm 

 evacuation became necessary. 



In contrast, Rogers says some areas 

 near the bridge at North Topsail Shores, 

 the community rated as worst, have low 

 erosion rates and good access to the 

 mainland in case of evacuation. 



"Some of the best sites at North Topsail 

 Shores would be a far better choice for a 

 home than a bad site at Sunset Beach," 

 Rogers says. 



And when it comes to evacuation, 

 Ocracoke, the second "safest" community 

 on Pilkey's list, can be hard to leave 

 behind. Ocracoke is accessible by a ferry 

 system that must shut down when winds 

 exceed 35 to 40 knots. 



The third slot on Pilkey's safety list was 

 occupied by Nags Head— site of some of 

 the worst erosion on the North Carolina 

 coast in recent years, Rogers says. 



Rogers and Pilkey agree that prospec- 

 tive coastal homeowners should fully 

 realize the risk of buying property in one 

 of nature's most dynamic, changeable 

 systems. But Rogers believes buyers 

 should look beyond communities to 

 specific sites. 



For more information about choosing 

 coastal real estate, send for a copy of Your 

 Place at the Beach: A Guide to Buying 

 Vacation Real Estate Ask for U NC-SG-87-04. 

 The cost is $2.50. 



If you have further questions, call 

 Rogers at 919/458-5498. Or write P.O. 

 Box 130, Kure Beach, N.C. 27889. 



