In February the 

 Coastal Resources Com- 

 mission established an 

 Outer Banks Task Force 

 to study the severe ero- 

 sion occurring along 

 northern North Carolina 

 beaches. Jay Langfelder, head of the 

 Department of Marine, Earth and At- 

 mospheric Sciences at North Carolina 

 State University (NCSU) and a co- 

 ordinator for UNC Sea Grant's coastal 

 studies was appointed chairman of the 

 committee. 



John Fisher and Margery Overton, 

 two Sea Grant researchers and mem- 

 bers of the NCSU Department of Civil 

 Engineering, along with Spencer 

 Rogers, UNC Sea Grarit's coastal 

 engineering specialist, are members of 

 the task force's technical subcommit- 

 tee. The task force is seeking to find 

 the technical solutions and funding 

 necessary to combat the erosion 

 problem. » 



UNC Sea Grant Director B.J. 

 Copeland is accepting research 

 proposals for the program's 1985-86 

 funding cycle. If you're a researcher at 

 an academic institution or state 

 agency and would like to submit a 

 proposal, call the Sea Grant office in 

 Raleigh for the necessary forms. The 

 telephone number is 919/737-2454. All 

 proposals must be submitted by 

 May 1. 



Frank Thomas, project director for 

 UNC Sea Grant's work at the NCSU 

 Seafood Laboratory in Morehead City, 

 and Joyce Taylor, Sea Grant's marine 

 agent at the lab, have received a grant 

 from the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries 

 Development Foundation to develop a 

 slide show and a script on seafood care 

 and handling. The slide show will be 

 used by extension and advisory agents 

 in the mid-Atlantic states. It will focus 

 on the proper methods of selecting, 

 preserving and dressing fresh sea- 

 foods. 



M^arch is the begin- 

 ning of crab-shedding 

 season in North 

 Carolina. If you'ie 

 thinking of expanding 

 your crab operation to 

 include a crab-shedding 

 facility, you'll want to order A Guide 

 to Soft-Shell Crabbing. Written by 

 Wayne Wescott, UNC Sea Grant's ad- 

 visory agent in Manteo, the 32-page 

 book is designed for the layman who is 

 considering crab shedding. It includes 

 sections on blue crab biology, identify- 

 ing and handling "peelers," harvesting 

 methods, shedding methods and more. 



In addition to diagrams and illustra- 

 tions, five color photos will depict the 

 various stages of peelers. These 

 photographs will enable the novice to 

 recognize the subtle signs of a blue 

 crab preparing to shed. 



For a free copy, write UNC Sea 

 Grant, Box 8605, Raleigh, North 

 Carolina 27695-8605. Ask for publica- 

 tion number UNC-SG-84-01. 



Predictive Growth Model for the 

 Meat Weight (Adductor Muscle) of 

 Bay Scallops in North Carolina by 

 Robert Kellogg, NCSU Department of 

 Economics and Business, and Dennis 

 Spitsbergen, N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries, develops a model to predict 

 the meat size for bay scallops. The 

 growth model can be used to suggest 

 season openings that will attain op- 

 timal growth of the scallops. For a 

 copy of this publication, send $2 to 

 UNC Sea Grant, Box 8605, Raleigh, 

 North Carolina 27695-8605. Ask for 

 publication UNC-SG-WP-83-6. 



Coastwatch is published monthly 

 except July and December by the Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina Sea Grant 

 College Program, 105 1911 Building, 

 North Carolina State University, Box 

 8605, Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. Vol. 

 11, No. 3, March, 1984. Dr. B.J. 

 Copeland, director. Kathy Hart and 

 Nancy Davis, staff writers. Second- 

 class postage paid at Raleigh, NC 

 27611. 



COASTWATCH 



105 1911 Building 



North Carolina State University 



Box 8605 



Raleigh, NC 27695-8605 



Second-class postage paid 

 at Raleigh, NC 27611 

 (ISSN 0161-8369) 



