Coastwatch 



COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Managing Editor 

 Katie Mosher 



Senior Editors 

 Ann Green 

 Renee Wolcott Shannon 



Designer 

 Linda Noble 



Circulation Manager 

 Sandra Harris 



The North Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Program is a federal/state program that 

 promotes the wise use of our coastal and 

 marine resources through research, extension 

 and education. It joined the National Sea Grant 

 College Network in 1970 as an institutional 

 program. Six years later, it was designated a 

 Sea Grant College. Today, North Carolina Sea 

 Grant supports several research projects, 

 a 12-member extension program and a 

 communications staff. Ron Hodson is director. 

 The program is funded by the U.S. Department 

 of Commerce's National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration and the state 

 through the University of North Carolina. 

 Coastwatch (ISSN 1068-784X) is published 

 bimonthly, six times a year, for $15 by the 

 North Carolina Sea Grant College Program, 

 North Carolina State University, Box 8605, 

 Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8605. 

 Telephone: 919/515-2454. Fax: 919/515-7095. 

 E-mail: kmosher@unity.ncsu.edu. 

 World Wide Web address: 

 http://www2.ncm.edu/sea_grant/seagrant.html. 

 Periodical Postage paid at Raleigh, N.C. 



POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 



Coastwatch, North Carolina Sea Grant, 

 North Carolina State University, Box 8605, 

 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. 



Front cover photo of the 

 Styron-Bragg house in Portsmouth 

 and table of contents photo of 



beach-goers at Fort Macon 

 State Park by Scott D. Taylor. 



Printed on recycled paper. ® 



Tackling the Threat of Exotic Species 



North Carolina is under attack by 

 aliens. Alien nuisance species, that is: 

 plants and animals that are not native to our 

 ecosystems and whose invasions of our 

 sounds and rivers can prove costly. 



The Invasive Species Council, created 

 this year by an executive order from 

 President Clinton, marks federal awareness 

 of the mounting threat from exotic species. 

 North Carolina Sea Grant is already doing 

 its part to protect our state from these alien 

 invaders. 



Barbara Doll, water quality 

 specialist for North Carolina 

 Sea Grant, emphasizes the 

 state's vulnerability. One Jg 

 threat lurks just to the 

 north, in the lower 

 Chesapeake Bay. In recent 

 months, researchers there 

 have discovered the veined 

 Rapa whelk, which is native 

 to the Sea of Japan. The large 

 whelk eats hard clams, 

 sucking out the body and 

 leaving the shell empty. 



"It could come here," says Doll. 

 "It may be here already. It likes hard sand 

 bottoms and it likes hard clams, and we've 

 got those." 



In an effort to prepare our part of the 

 country to fight the whelk and other 

 aquatic nuisance species, North Carolina 



Sea Grant is co-sponsoring a regional 

 conference on exotic species Oct. 12-14. 

 Sponsors include the Tennessee Valley 

 Authority, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- 

 neers, other Sea Grant programs in the 

 Southeast and natural resource managers 

 from several states. 



The Charleston, S.C., conference will 

 focus on a region that extends from North 

 Carolina to Florida and west through the 

 Gulf Coast of Texas. "The Southeast is an 

 area that's never been looked at," Doll 

 says. The conference will 

 discuss existing problems 

 with exotic species in the 

 region and identify 

 possible new invaders. 

 Participants also will 

 discuss state policies 

 and regional efforts that 

 would help stop the 

 spread of aquatic 

 nuisance species. 

 "We don't have a 

 cooperative agreement with 

 other states in the region," says Doll, 

 yet North Carolina's waterways drain into 

 South Carolina and Tennessee. The 

 conference, "Aquatic Nuisance Species: A 

 Focus on the Southeast," will help the 

 region present a united front against future 

 invasions. - R.W.S. 



In the Next Issue of Coastwatch 



The Cape Fear River has long been a watery highway for North Carolina's 

 fishers and tugboat captains. In the next issue of Coastwatch, T. Edward 

 Nickens takes a boat ride through Cape Fear River history and explores the 

 importance of this artery of commerce. To the north, Ann Green visits 

 Pettigrew State Park, where majestic bald cypress trees offer a glimpse into 

 an area once dominated by swamplands. The park is home to Lake Phelps, 

 the state's second largest natural lake and an angler's paradise. Green also 

 delves into the secrets of the crafty blue crab with researcher David 

 Eggleston, who has new findings on North Carolina's most profitable catch. 



2 EARLY SUMMER 1999 



