THE BACK PAGE 



"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). 



What's in a namer 

 Maybe more than you 

 think. Gagfish, grunts 

 and suckers go begging 

 at grocery counters. An 

 unsavory name can de- 

 stroy the appeal of an 

 otherwise tasty fish. And with no ap- 

 peal in the grocery store, these fish 

 bring only pennies a pound at the 

 dock. 



But there's one fish that's overcome 

 its unsavory name: croaker. Sam 

 Thomas, Sea Grant's seafood specialist 

 at the NCSU Seafood Laboratory in 

 Morehead City, says promotion put 

 croaker alongside flounder and trout 

 on grocery counters. "Once people 

 realized it was a very acceptable fish to 

 eat we started seeing demand for it," 

 Thomas says. "When demand in- 

 creased, the fishing effort increased 

 and the fishermen started getting a 

 better price for it." 



Thomas says common fish names, 

 usually bestowed by fishermen, reflect 

 some action or habit of the fish 

 (suckers) or perhaps their appearance 

 (toadfish). Fish names may vary from 

 fishing community to fishing commu- 

 nity, and bear yet another name at the 

 market. The U. S. Food and Drug Ad- 

 ministration (FDA) controls market 

 names. They want to assure consumers 

 that what is being sold as perch is in- 

 deed perch. 



Ridding a fish of its distasteful name 

 is not easy. Fishermen and seafood 

 dealers along the Pacific coast recently 

 appealed to the FDA to change the 

 market name of Pacific hake to Pacific 

 whiting. The appeal worked. But it 

 wouldn't be worth the time, effort and 



expense to change every fish's name 

 that was unpleasant. 



Thomas suggests that a lesson be 

 taken from croaker. Promotion and a 

 little experimentation on the part of 

 the consumer could improve the 

 marketability of many unsavory- 

 sounding fish. 



The U.S. House of Representatives' 

 Committee on Merchant Marine and 

 Fisheries, chaired by N.C. Represen- 

 tative Walton Jones, will be studying 

 the reauthorization of the National 

 Sea Grant Program during February 

 and March. The program was created 

 by Congress under the National Sea 

 Grant College Act and must 

 periodically be reauthorized by Con- 

 gress so it can continue to operate as a 

 federal program. 



During the study period, Con- 

 gressmen and committee members 

 would welcome public comment on the 

 Sea Grant College Program. 



Fishermen are once 

 again invited to attend 

 the North Carolina 

 Commercial Fishing 

 Show being held in 

 Morehead City. The 

 show, slated for March 

 12 and 13, will be held in the National 

 Guard Armory at 3609 Bridges St. The 

 in-water exhibits will be displayed 

 behind the N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries building off U.S. 70 East, two 

 blocks away. The show will run from 

 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 12 

 and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 

 March 13. Admission is free. 



Dealers and manufacturers will be 

 on hand to exhibit the latest in boats, 

 engines, trailers, nets, traps, elec- 

 tronics and other commercial fishing 

 gear. A series of mini-seminars will be 

 offered by experts throughout the two- 

 day event. 



The North Carolina Commercial 

 Fishing Show, the only boat and gear 

 show in North Carolina designed es- 

 pecially for commercial fishermen, is 

 sponsored by UNC Sea Grant in 



cooperation with the N.C. Agricultural 

 Extension Service, the N.C. Division 

 of Marine Fisheries and the N.C. 

 Fisheries Association. Last year's show 

 attracted over 4,000 people. For more 

 information about the show, contact 

 Sea Grant agents Bob Hines and Larry 

 Giardina at (919) 726-0125. 



When it comes to 

 taking it off, blue crabs 

 know their business. The 

 average blue crab will 

 shed its shell 25 to 27 

 times during its life. And 

 it's just after these 

 sheddings, when blue crabs are soft, 

 that they become a seafood delicacy — 

 soft-shell crabs. 



And for fishermen willing to cull out 

 peelers (crabs preparing to shed) and 

 hold them until shedding, the bonus 

 can mean some added dollars in the 

 bank. When prices are peaking, soft- 

 shell crabs can bring over $12 a dozen. 

 And with a plentiful supply of crabs in 

 North Carolina's brackish waters, 

 more North Carolina fishermen are 

 giving soft-shell and shedding a try. 



That's why the UNC Sea Grant and 

 Virginia Sea Grant Marine Advisory 

 Services decided to cosponsor a 

 workshop about soft-shell crabs. The 

 workshop will be held March 5, at the 

 Beaufort County Community College 

 in Washington. The program, which is 

 slated to run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 

 will feature panel discussions about 

 crab biology, peeler identification, 

 shedder harvesting methods, shedder 

 facility design and marketing and 

 economics. Discussions will include in 

 formation on small backyard shedding 

 trays and large closed shedding 

 systems. Collington shedder Murray 

 Bridges and Smyrna shedder Mark 

 Hooper will be on several of the panels, 

 along with UNC Sea Grant agents and 

 specialists, Wayne Wescott, Bob 

 Hines, Larry Giardina and Sam 

 Thomas. Virginia Sea Grant specialist 

 Mike Oesterling will also be a panel 

 member. 



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