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). 



Xhere are thousands 

 of acres of old rice fields 

 in South Carolina and 

 much of that impound- 

 ed land hasn't been used 

 in 70 or 80 years. But re- 

 searchers with the South 

 Carolina Sea Grant Consortium are 

 studying the feasibility of using that 

 old agricultural land for aquaculture. 



They're flooding the abandoned rice 

 paddies, then allowing Mother Nature 

 to stock and feed the crop. Fields that 

 once produced rice are now yielding 40 

 or 50 pounds of shrimp per acre. 



Jack Whetstone, marine extension 

 specialist with the South Carolina Sea 

 Grant Consortium, spoke to 

 aquaculture experts and advisory per- 

 sonnel at UNC Sea Grant's 

 aquaculture project in Aurora on Oc- 

 tober 10. Whetstone told the group 

 that shrimp are just one species that 

 shows promise for aquaculture. In 

 freshwater impoundments, they've 

 been able to grow crawfish, es- 

 tablishing a new industry in South 

 Carolina. This year, about 525 acres 

 will be farmed in the production of 

 crawfish, and Whetstone estimates 

 that each acre will produce 1,000 

 pounds. 



Whetstone says aquaculture in his 

 state will be similar to truck farming. 

 There will be a variety of species 

 cultured in a variety of environments. 

 And aquaculture won't be limited to 

 the coast. In the central part of the 

 state, soybean farmers have been suc- 

 cessfully raising freshwater shrimp. 

 "They say they're making more 

 money per acre off shrimp than they 

 are off of soybeans," says Whetstone. 



If you'd like more information on 

 South Carolina Sea Grant's 

 aquaculture research, contact 

 Whetstone at (803) 546-4481 or (803) 

 795-8462. 



Chickens may have 

 cornered the egg mar- 

 ket, but fish eggs, or roe, 

 can be just as tasty, says 

 Sam Thomas, Sea 

 Grant's seafood special- 

 ist. Mullet roe is popu- 

 lar with coastal Carolinians, he says. 

 In late October and early November, 

 the fish begin a fall run along the 

 North Carolina coast as they head 

 south to spawn. Fishermen who catch 

 the mullet extract the egg sac contain- 

 ing the eggs from the fish. 



Coastal cooks roll the roe in salt, 

 press it between two planks for about 

 24 hours, then wrap it and freeze it for 

 later. For cooking, Thomas recom- 

 mends baking or frying without a bat- 

 ter. 



Don't expect to love your first bite, 

 warns Thomas. You have to acquire a 

 taste for mullet roe. He enjoys nib- 

 bling the cooked roe as a snack or for a 

 meal. 



How about serving 

 shark for dinner? A 

 fledgling shark fishery is 

 gearing up along our 

 coast. But a lot depends 

 on public acceptance of 

 this shunned fish. Dur- 

 ing 1982, landing figures show that 

 U.S. fishermen caught 24.6 million 

 pounds of shark, valued at $4.8 

 million. Most of the catch was shipped 

 out of the country. Shark is commonly 

 eaten in Europe, Australia and the 

 Orient. 



Shark has a firm flesh that tastes 

 much like swordfish. It is an excellent 

 source of protein, vitamins and 

 minerals. And shark can be cut into 

 steaks or fillets. 



But shark must be handled properly 



at sea if it is going to be tasty on the 

 table. A shark should be bled soon af- 

 ter being caught, because its blood 

 contains urea, which can alter the taste 

 of the meat as it deteriorates. A 

 properly handled shark can have a 

 shelf-life of 18 days. 



"I have no doubts that, if there is 

 some quality control put onto shark, 

 that sooner or later it'll become readily 

 accepted," says Pete Whiting of Ottis 

 Fish Market in Morehead City. 

 "Grouper, years ago, was thought to 

 be a trash fish. And now all the finest 

 restaurants serve grouper." 



Whiting says he would like to see 

 shark sold in supermarkets for just 

 over a dollar a pound — making shark a 

 better buy than hamburger. 



The Christmas tree 

 that decorates your 

 home during the holi- 

 days, can be the base of 

 tomorrow's sand dune. 

 Natural Christmas trees 

 can be used to repair 

 dunes worn down by vehicle and pe- 

 destrian traffic, says Spencer Rogers, 

 Sea Grant's coastal engineering 

 specialist at the N.C. Marine 

 Resources Center at Ft. Fisher. 



The trees' branches help to trap the 

 blowing sand and become the skeleton 

 of a new dune. While Rogers says the 

 trees can be used to repair dunes 

 damaged by people and vehicles, trees 

 shouldn't be used to repair dunes 

 eroded by wave action. 



Each year. Sea Grant and the N.C. 

 Marine Resources Center at Ft. Fisher 

 sponsor a dune-repair program. To 

 participate in this year's program, 

 bring your tree, stripped of its orna- 

 ments, to the center January 1 at 2:30 

 p.m. 



Spencer Rogers traveled to Texas to 

 see what North Carolina could learn 

 from a hurricane named Alicia. The 

 hurricane, which struck the Texas 

 coast September 18, was classified as a 

 minimal category three storm 



