THE BACK MGE 



"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). 



It's shrimp season and 

 no fisherman likes to 

 find a drowning sea tur- 

 tle in his shrimp trawl. 

 He knows he loses 

 shrimp and money every 

 time a turtle gets tangled 

 in his net. Trawling efficiency devices 

 (TEDs) may offer help to fisherman 

 and to turtles. Early evidence in- 

 dicates that the devices, sewed into 

 trawling gear, can fence the turtles and 

 other large sea animals out. They may 

 save lives of turtles, some of which are 

 endangered, and allow for longer tows 

 by trawlers. 



Larry Giardina, a Sea Grant marine 

 advisory agent at Bogue Banks, is of- 

 fering five TEDs for fishermen to try 

 out on their boats. There will be no 

 charge for a device and Giardina will 

 explain its use. If you're interested, 

 contact Giardina at the Bogue Banks 

 Marine Resources Center, P. O. Box 

 896, Atlantic Beach, North Carolina 

 28512 or call 247-4007. 



For years, commer- 

 cial fishermen have been 

 catching flounder in 

 their crab pots. That 

 gave Etles Henries an 

 idea. He's built a pot 

 just for catching floun- 

 der. Henries, a Blounts Creek busi- 

 nessman, designed his flounder pot to 

 be flatter and with a wider entrance 

 tunnel than the crab pot, he says. 



Henries says there's just one snag in 

 his invention. So far, he's been unable 

 to find a suitable bait to entice the fish 

 into the pot. He says there's an ample 

 supply of small fish in the sound for 



the flounder to feed on, so they don't 

 need to go into the trap for food. 



This summer, Bob Hines, a Sea 

 Grant marine agent at Bogue Banks, 

 will be testing baits for use in the 

 flounder pots. Henries says, "We're 

 looking for a curiosity bait, something 

 that will bring the flounder into the 

 pot because he's curious about it." One 

 possibility is a battery-powered light, 

 placed in the pot, to draw the atten- 

 tion of the fish. 



If he is able to find a bait the floun- 

 der like, Henries says he'll be able to 

 sell his pots for $8. He says a fisherman 

 will be able to run a line of flounder 

 pots as economically as he can set out a 

 line of crab pots. 



But Henries adds that he won't put 

 his design on the market until he can 

 advise fishermen on what bait to use. 

 We'll let you know how the testing 

 turns out. 



Sea Grant has a new 

 area specialist in the 

 Manteo office. Rich 

 Novak will be develop- 

 ing an educational 

 program that will help 

 recreational businesses 

 at the coast improve their manage- 

 ment. He'll also work with the tourism 

 industry in analyzing the recreational 

 needs of coastal counties and cities. 



Novak comes from the Recreation 

 Resources Center at the University of 

 Wisconsin where he has worked as a 

 project assistant. His other experience 

 includes consulting for private recre- 

 ational developments, teaching at the 

 University of Wisconsin and managing 

 recreation facilities. 



Novak has a bachelor of science in 

 Recreation and Park Administration 

 and Business Administration from 

 Western Illinois University, a master 

 of science in Forest and Range Man- 

 agement from Washington State Uni- 

 versity, and has done post-graduate 

 work at the University of Wisconsin in 

 Madison. 



If you would like to contact Novak, 

 write him at the Marine Resources 



Center, Roanoke Island, P. O. Box 

 699, Manteo, North Carolina 27954 or 

 call (919) 473-3937 or 5441. 



Had trouble getting a call through 

 to Bob Hines or Larry Giardina, the 

 marine advisory agents at Bogue 

 Banks? The problem is not in your 

 dialing. The telephone number for the 

 Marine Advisory Services office has 

 changed. The new number is (919) 

 247-4007. 



But the agents have not moved. 

 They can still be found at the Bogue 

 Banks Marine Resources Center. 



It was a rough year 

 for homeowners with 

 beachfront and sound- 

 front property. Spencer 

 Rogers, Sea Grant's 

 coastal engineering spe- 

 cialist, says that an av- 

 erage of 15 to 20 oceanfront houses are 

 threatened each year. But this year, 

 about 150 were threatened. (A house is 

 threatened if there is no substantial 

 protection between it and the shore- 

 line.) At Topsail Beach, one of the 

 areas hardest-hit, over 60 houses were 

 threatened. 



Rogers blames the high frequency of 

 northeasters, which repeatedly pound- 

 ed the coast this winter, and the in- 

 creased erosion in areas of high den- 

 sity. "I saw more erosion of dunes this 

 year than has been typical in the last 

 five to ten years," he says. 



Damage wasn't confined to ocean- 

 front property, says Rogers. "The 

 sounds and rivers also took a beating 

 with the worst damage on the Neuse 

 River." 



Sea Grant offers a series of five 

 colorful 23" x 35" posters depicting ero- 

 sion in four of the state's major es- 

 tuaries: Core/Bogue Sounds, 

 Albemarle Sound, Pamlico River and 

 Neuse River. The fifth poster, "Cause 

 and Effect," explains the reasons for 

 estuarine erosion. For a copy of the 

 free posters, write UNC Sea Grant. 

 Please specify which posters you want. 



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