River. For more information about the 

 blue-green algal blooms plaguing the 

 Neuse, read the October issue of 

 Coastwatch . 



Paerl and Stanley also discussed the 

 problems of the Neuse in a public 

 forum at the Sept. 8 and 9 meeting of 

 the N.C. Marine Science Council at 

 Bogue Banks. 



Soils, roads, water- 

 ways, buildings and pop- 

 ulations — They're all 

 going into computers 

 these days, as data. And 

 now, more and more of 

 North Carolina's coast- 

 al planners and managers can use a 

 computer to map the resources in their 

 communities. 



A state agency — the Land 

 Resources Division of the N.C. 

 Department of Natural Resources and 

 Community Development — has in- 

 troduced the Land Resources Informa- 

 tion Service (LRIS). LRIS is a com- 

 puterized system that draws on 

 "digitized" data to draft maps, 

 overlays and displays that can help 

 with the job of planning and managing 

 coastal resources. 



If you would like more information 

 on LRIS, call (919) 733-2090, or write 

 LRIS, N. C. Division of Land 

 Resources, P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, 

 N. C. 27611-7687. 



It's been twenty-three 

 years since a hurricane 

 crossed the coast of 

 North Carolina. But 

 that statistic can be de- 

 ceiving, says Joe Pelis- 

 sier, deputy meteorogist 

 in charge at the National Weather Ser- 

 vice forecast office in Raleigh. "From a 

 statistical point of view, North 

 Carolina is very hurricane-prone. In 

 fact, if we go back over a hundred 

 years of record, it turns out that, along 

 the Atlantic coast, the coast of North 

 Carolina is the second most vulnerable 

 place for hurricanes, surpassed only by 

 South Florida." 



Could this be the year when another 

 hurricane strikes our coast? Pelissier 

 says there's no way of knowing. But 

 he's concerned that if a hurricane does 

 strike our coast, residents there may 

 not be prepared. More and more peo- 

 ple, many who have never known the 

 force of a hurricane, are moving into 

 the hurricane-vulnerable areas, says 

 Pelissier. 



To help people prepare for a hurri- 

 cane, Sea Grant, the N.C. Division of 

 Emergency Management and the N.C. 

 Office of Coastal Management 

 published a brochure, "About Hurri- 

 canes, what to do and when to leave." 

 In conjunction with Hurricane Aware- 

 ness Week, WRAL-TV in Raleigh 

 adopted and reprinted the publication 

 for mass distribution in their viewing 

 area. 



Mini-grant funds have been award- 

 ed to Vito Blomo, an East Carolina 

 University (ECU) economist, to study 

 the impact of a proposed minimum 

 mesh size for menhaden nets. John 

 Maiolo and Michael Orbach, also of 

 ECU, will assist Blomo on the project. 



Overfishing is a growing problem in 

 the menhaden fishery. As a possible 

 solution, the Atlantic States Marine 

 Fisheries Commission is considering a 

 regulation requiring a minimum mesh 

 size for net materials. Currently, there 

 are no regulations on mesh size for 

 menhaden nets in North Carolina. 



Earlier, the researchers studied how 

 a shortened season might affect the 

 employment and revenues of the 

 menhaden fishing industry and 

 regional economics. 



Coastwatch is published 

 monthly except July and Decem- 

 ber by the University of North 

 Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Program, 105 1911 Building, 

 North Carolina State University, 

 Raleigh, NC 27650-5001. Vol. 10, 

 No. 8, September, 1983. Dr. B.J. 

 Copeland, director. Neil Caudle, 

 editor. Kathy Hart and Nancy 

 Davis, staff writers. Second-class 

 postage paid at Raleigh, NC 

 27611. 



COASTWATCH 



105 1911 Building 



North Carolina State University 



Raleigh, NC 27650 



Second-class postage paid 

 at Raleigh, NC 27611 

 (ISSN 0161-8369) 



