COASTAL 



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Around the Network: 



Researchers 

 Develop Diet 

 for Larval Cod 



Since hatchery-raised baby 

 cod are no bigger than eyelashes, 

 their menu is rather limited. Even 

 brine shrimp and rotifers, 

 microscopic aquatic animals, are 

 too large for them to eat 



With Maine/New Hampshire 

 Sea Grant support, researchers at 

 the universities of New Hamp- 

 shire, Maine and Rhode Island 

 have developed artificial foods 

 acceptable to cod larvae. Linda 

 Wing, a University of Maine 

 professor, and Michael Opitz, a 

 Cooperative Extension veterinar- 

 ian, conducted the research. 



"We tested four experimental 

 diets and one commercial food," 

 says Kling. "One of the four does 

 look promising." 



Diet has proven to be a major 

 obstacle to successful cod 

 aquaculture in New England. 

 When cod eggs hatch, the tiny 

 larvae draw on their yolk sacs for 

 energy. In the wild, when the sacs 

 are depleted, the young fish eat 

 tiny marine organisms called 

 zooplankton. However, zooplank- 

 ton are difficult to raise in a 

 hatchery. 



In 1997, Kling and Opitz 

 received a $477,000 federal grant 

 from the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration to 

 develop commercial methods for 

 raising cod and haddock in 

 aquaculture pens. Both cod and 

 haddock, which are found from 

 Maine to New Jersey, are severely 

 depleted in the Gulf of Maine. 



—AG. 



Uncovering Croatan Artifacts 



During an 



archaeological dig in 

 Buxton, East Carolina 

 University researchers 

 unearthed a 16th- 

 century gold signet ring 

 that links the Croatan 

 Native Americans to 

 the Roanoke Island 

 settlement. 



Recently, the 

 ECU team found the 

 ring — enscribed with 

 a lion — on a site 

 occupied by the 

 Croatans during the 

 17th and 1 8th centuries. 



"This ring is significant because it is 

 the first time we have tied the Croatans to 

 Roanoke Colony," says David Phelps, 

 director of ECU's Coastal Archaeology 

 Office. "The Croatans were the only Indian 

 allies of the English settlers at Roanoke 

 Island. Since gold was not traded in the 

 Indian network, someone gave the ring to 

 the Croatans." 



Pholo courtesy of East Carolina University 



This elaborately decorated cooking pot 

 was found at the Croatan site. 



This excavation 

 is part of an ongoing 

 Croatan project that 

 began in 1997. 

 During the latest dig, 

 researchers found 

 evidence that the 

 earliest occupation of 

 the site dates back 

 2,000 years — about 

 the time of Christ 

 They also uncovered 

 artifacts from a 

 Native American 

 workshop active 

 during the 17th and 

 18th centuries — 

 from three hearth fires with English coins 

 to a ceramic cooking pot 



'This link shows Croatan Indians 

 adapted to European technology," says 

 Phelps. "They converted from bows and 

 arrows to muskets." 



The public will be able to view some 

 of the artifacts at museum exhibits planned 

 this year in North Carolina — A G. 



Fish Stocks on the Mend 



The National Marine Fisheries 

 Service is increasing efforts to correct 

 overfished conditions and better protect 

 many important fisheries, according to 

 Terry Garcia, U.S. Department of 

 Commerce assistant secretary for oceans 

 and atmosphere. 



Under proposed amendments to the 

 existing law, the service will take steps to 

 manage marine fish stocks more 

 effectively and protect fish habitats across 

 the country. 



Fishery officials believe the goals of 

 the Sustainable Fisheries Act's new 

 management strategy also will result in 

 bycatch reduction and more environmen- 

 tally friendly fishing practices. 



'Fishermen, their communities and 

 all who are concerned with conservation 

 are relying on us to succeed," says Garcia, 



who is also a National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration deputy 

 administrator. "The Sustainable Fisheries 

 Act represents a major policy shift by the 

 federal government to ensure that we 

 achieve the greatest long-term benefits to 

 the nation from our fishery resources." 



The act was mandated by the 1996 

 reauthorization of the nation's primary 

 fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens 

 Fishery Conservation and Management 

 Act. 



Under the plan, the managers of the 

 eight regional fishery management councils 

 are drafting amendments to the existing 

 management plans. North Carolina is 

 represented on the mid- Atlantic and south 

 Atlantic councils. The agency will review 

 the amendments by the end of July. 



—AG. 



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SPRING 1999 



