a c k talk 



Coastwatch wants to hear from 

 you on topics relating to the North 

 Carolina coast. Letters should be no 

 longer than 250 words and should 

 contain the author's name, address 

 and telephone number. Letters may be 

 edited for style. Send all correspon- 

 dence to Coastwatch, UNC Sea Grant, 

 Box 8605, N.C. State University, 

 Raleigh, NC 27695. Opinions ex- 

 pressed on this page are not necessar- 

 ily those of UNC Sea Grant employ- 

 ees and staff. 



Why No 



"Year off the Indian?" 



I received your Sept./Oct. issue of 

 Coastwatch today and found it most 

 interesting. It's not often we get an 

 entire issue of a magazine devoted to 

 our history. I'm not one of the 

 Carolina Indians, having just moved 

 here about two years ago. But I do 

 have friends here, and we share our 

 history. I am a Shawnee/Cherokee 

 elder. I am just learning that I may 

 have some Choctaw blood on my 

 grandfather's side. 



While you mentioned the fanfare 

 and hoopla going on in the celebration 

 of Columbus, you missed an opportu- 

 nity to inform your readers of a more 

 appropriate celebration to go with 

 your Native American issue. I am 

 very, very disturbed by this and find it 

 most unpleasant that I must as a 

 Native American call your attention to 

 it. Never before have the American 

 Indians been so honored. My friends, 

 1992 was the "Year of the American 

 Indian" as stated in public law 102- 

 188 passed by Congress and signed by 

 President Bush. I am respectfully 

 asking those who contributed to this 

 issue to write to me and explain why 

 they could not include this. I am 

 enclosing a copy of this proclamation. 



Pat Rollingcloud, Pittsboro, NC 



We did not mention the "Year of 

 the American Indian" because our 

 focus was very specific — Native 

 Americans in coastal North Carolina, 

 their past and present. 



Pictures Please 



Is it possible to get framed copies 

 of your covers? I like the uptown 

 changes. 



Henri Franklin, Greensboro, NC 



Sorry, we don't offer framed copies 

 of our covers. But you can contact the 

 cover photographers for prints that 

 you can frame yourself. If the cover 

 photograph is taken by a Sea Grant 

 staff person, then we'll be glad to have 

 a print made for you at a minimal cost. 

 But most of our cover photos are taken 

 by freelance photographers, usually 

 Scott Taylor or Michael Halminski. I 

 feel sure they would be happy to sell 

 you a print, and both take beautiful 

 photographs. To contact Taylor or 

 Halminski, write or call us at Sea 

 Grant. We'll be glad to provide you 

 with an address and phone number. 



Baffled By Regulations 



I have been a subscriber to 

 Coastwatch for quite some time. I 

 keep a boat at Wrightsville Beach and 

 get to go fishing five to eight times a 

 year. At times, I hear about various 

 fishing laws and bag limits. However, 

 I am not down there often enough to 

 really know what these limits are or 

 even which fish they pertain to. It 

 would certainly be helpful for 

 Coastwatch to occasionally publish a 

 synopsis of such laws so that the 

 occasional coastal fisherperson may be 

 able to keep up to date. I completely 

 enjoy Coastwatch and read every bit 

 of each issue. The new format is out- 

 standing. 



J. Toms Dover, Charlotte, NC 



We certainly understand your di- 

 lemma. Fishing regulations seem to 

 change about as frequently as the 

 weather. But Jim Bahen, a Sea Grant 

 fisheries specialist, stays abreast of 

 these regulations and the associated 

 bag limits, size restrictions and 

 seasons. He has a flyer, A Recre- 

 ational Guide to Management of Fish 

 in South Atlantic Waters, which lists 

 the state and federal regulations for 

 more than 25 species of recreationally 

 caught fish. He updates the guide any 

 time there are changes in regulations. 

 The guide is free and yours for the 

 asking. Just write Sea Grant, Box 

 8605, N.C. State University, Raleigh, 

 NC 27695. Ask for UNC-SG-89-06. 



As I mentioned earlier, we will be 

 surveying Coastwatch readers to learn 

 how you feel about our magazine. We 

 plan to survey every fifth person on 

 our zip-sorted mailing list of about 

 3^00. That means we'll be sending 

 out approximately 700 surveys. Each 

 survey packet will include a letter, a 

 survey form and a self-addressed, 

 business-reply envelope. Your only 

 cost will be the time it takes to fill out 

 the survey. 



I urge you to be candid and 

 thorough in completing the survey 

 form. The information you provide 

 will help us in several ways. First, 

 we'll learn more about you and why 

 you read our magazine. Second, we'll 

 find out what you like and don't like 

 about everything from our design to 

 our selection of topics. We'll also ask 

 for story suggestions. 



By surveying you, we hope to 

 tailor Coastwatch to better meet your 

 needs for information about the coast. 

 If you don't receive a survey, but 

 would like to comment, please write, 

 and Til send you a survey form. 



COASTWATCH 25 



