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). For copies of 

 publications , write UNC Sea 

 Grant, NCSU, Box 8605, Raleigh, 

 N.C. 27695-8605. 



If you'd like to learn 

 how to raise striped bass 

 fingerlings, UNC Sea 

 Grant has a workshop 

 for you. Sea Grant and 

 the N.C. Cooperative 

 Fishery Research Unit 

 are sponsoring a three-day workshop, 

 May 7-9, at the Aquaculture Research 

 and Demonstration Center in Aurora. 



Randy Rouse, UNC Sea Grant's 

 aquaculture agent, says the workshop 

 will be a "hands on" opportunity for 

 participants to learn how to spawn 

 striped bass females and fertilize the 

 eggs with white bass or white perch 

 sperm. The workshop will also cover 

 the techniques used to raise the 

 hybrids from the egg to the fingerling 

 size. 



Howard Kerby, a Sea Grant 

 researcher who has worked extensively 

 with striped bass hybrids, will provide 

 most of the workshop instruction. But 

 members of the N.C. Division of 

 Marine Fisheries and the N.C. Wildlife 

 Resources Commission will be on hand 

 to explain the laws that pertain to ob- 

 taining the stocks. 



The cost of the workshop will be $40 

 if participants choose to stay in a dorm 

 or trailer at the Aquaculture Research 

 and Demonstration Center (bring your 

 own sleeping bag). The cost is $30 if 

 participants choose to find their own 

 accommodations. The registration fee 

 includes a striped bass culture book 

 and four meals (two breakfasts, two 

 lunches). 



The workshop is limited to 20 par- 



ticipants, who will be chosen on a first- 

 come, first-serve basis. To register, 

 send the registration fee to Ron Hod- 

 son, UNC Sea Grant, NCSU, Box 

 8605, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8605. For 

 more information, call Hodson at 

 919/737-2454, or Rouse at 919/322- 

 4054. 



Year of the Ocean. 

 It's a celebration King 

 Neptune would smile on. 

 From March 10, 1984, 

 until March 10, 1985, 

 events are planned that 

 will educate the public 

 about the ocean's heritage, its 

 resources and its future. In North 

 Carolina, October 6-14, has been 

 designated as Week of the Ocean. 

 Museums and schools are planning 

 special "ocean" events. 



Doug Young at the Office of Marine 

 Affairs in Raleigh is keeping a calendar 

 of events for this year-long celebration. 

 If you'd like to find out what's on the 

 schedule or would like to place an 

 event on the calendar, contact Young 

 at the N.C. Office of Marine Affairs, 

 116 W. Jones St., Raleigh, N.C. 27611. 

 Or call 919/733-2290. 



Fish may be flocking 

 to piers if an artificial 

 reef proves successful. 

 Jim Murray, director of 

 Sea Grant's Marine Ad- 

 visory Service, and 

 David Lindquist, 

 associate professor of biology at the 

 University of North Carolina at 

 Wilmington, are testing fish 

 aggregating devices, or floating reefs, 

 in the waters off of piers at Wrights- 

 ville Beach. 



Murray says the devices will be 

 placed alternately off two piers, with 

 one pier serving as a control. They'll 

 move the devices back and forth be- 

 tween the piers to avoid having people 

 fishing off just one pier. 



The aggregating devices, which will 

 be placed about 250 yards from the 



end of the piers, are made of fiberglass 

 rods with netting which hangs in the 

 water. The devices are secured 10 to 12 

 feet off the ocean floor by vertical float 

 lines. 



Last fall, the researchers gathered 

 catch per unit of effort data for each 

 pier. Once they install the devices, 

 Murray and Linquist hope to be able 

 to tell if the fish populations increase 

 at the pier with the devices and if the 

 devices actually improve fishing at the 

 pier. 



We'll let you know the results of 

 their study. 



Kudos to Coast- 

 watch. For the third 

 consecutive year, 

 Coastwatch has won an 

 international award 

 from the Society for 

 Technical Communica- 

 tion (STC). After the judging was 

 over, Coastwatch garnered an Award 

 of Achievement at the 1983-1984 In- 

 ternational Technical Publication 

 Competition. Coastwatch was edited 

 by Neil Caudle; Kathy Hart and 

 Nancy Davis were staff writers. 



Two other UNC Sea Grant 

 publications — Sea Grant in North 

 Carolina, 1981-82 and About 

 Hurricanes — earned Awards of Merit 

 at the regional competition sponsored 

 by the Carolina Chapter of the STC. 

 Sea Grant in North Carolina, 1981- 

 1982 was written by Neil Caudle, 

 Kathy Hart and Nancy Davis. About 

 Hurricanes was a publication 

 produced by UNC Sea Grant, the N.C. 

 Office of Coastal Management and 

 N.C. Division of Emergency 

 Management. 



Kathy Hart is Sea Grant's new 

 Director of Communications. Hart, a 

 graduate of the UNC School of Jour- 

 nalism, has been with Sea Grant for 

 five years. As Director of Communica- 

 tions, she will also serve as editor of 

 Coastwatch. 



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