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. 



Wayne Wescott, 

 marine advisory agent 

 on Roanoke Island, was 

 recently named the Sea 

 Grant Southeast Marine 

 Advisory Service's 

 Agent/Specialist of the 

 Year. Wescott was chosen for his work 

 with the soft-shell crab industry. 



When Wescott began his project, 

 only a few commercial fishermen were 

 aware of the profit possibilities in a 

 soft-crab production. But Wescott sold 

 them on the idea of shedding. The bot- 

 tom line was this: At the beginning of 

 the 1983 crabbing season, the highest 

 recorded price for hard crabs was $1 

 per pound. At the same time, soft 

 crabs were bringing as much as $2.33 

 each or $28 per dozen. 



Wescott went to work, compiling in- 

 formation, visiting shedding facilities, 

 and presenting workshops. An article 

 in Coastwatch on soft-shell crabbing 

 resulted in several hundred requests 

 for information. And his book, A 

 Guide to Soft Shell Crabbing, was 

 distributed to over 800 people during 

 the first month after its publication. 



In 1983, as a result of the increased 

 interest, more than 100 crabbers began 

 to cull out peelers — a five-fold increase 

 from 1982. Over 50 new shedding 

 facilities were constructed, resulting in 

 an estimated additional $2 million in 

 gross sales of soft crabs. 



Now, shedding facilities have been 

 set up in almost all coastal com- 



munities in Dare and Currituck coun- 

 ties. In Currituck County, Wescott 

 worked with zoning officials to es- 

 tablish conditional use permits to 

 allow fishermen to build shedding 

 facilities on their property in residen- 

 tial areas. 



Wescott says his soft-crab industry 

 project isn't over yet. If you have 

 questions about soft-shell crabbing, 

 contact Wescott at the N.C. Marine 

 Resources Center/Roanoke Island, 

 P.O. Box 699, Manteo, N.C. 27954 or 

 call 919/473-3937. 



Michael Orbach, a maritime 

 anthropologist at East Carolina Uni- 

 versity and a Sea Grant researcher, 

 will teach a course about marine policy 

 at the Duke University Marine 

 Laboratory in Beaufort from July 16 

 to August 17. 



The course will introduce students 

 and marine-policy professionals to the 

 study of marine policy and policy- 

 making. Course participants will trace 

 the history of marine-related organiza- 

 tions, legislation and issues, and their 

 effects on local, regional, national and 

 international policies. 



The course may be taken for credit 

 at either Duke University or the Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina at Chapel 

 Hill. Students may enroll up until the 

 first day of class. 



For admissions information, contact 

 the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, 

 3407 Arendell St., Morehead City, 

 N.C. 28557 (919/726-6841) or Duke 

 University Marine Laboratory, 

 Beaufort, N.C. 28516 (919/728-2111). 



At the North Caro- 

 lina Marine Resources 

 Center at Fort Fisher, 

 visitors are coming face 

 to face with sharks. The 

 feared fish are at home in 

 their new 17,000-gallon 

 shark tank. And, they're willing to 

 meet the public. 



The tank is 28 feet long, 7 feet deep 

 and over 13 feet wide. That makes it 



one of the largest free-standing 

 fiberglass aquariums in the world, says 

 Jim Lanier, director of the center. 

 Most tanks are made of concrete. 



The new inhabitants of the tank will 

 be sharks caught from North Carolina 

 waters. The largest of the eight species 

 to be represented in the tank will be 

 about 5'/2 feet long. 



Lanier says the aquarium will show 

 folks that there's more to a shark than 

 big jaws and big teeth. "We're going to 

 use that exhibit to teach them about 

 the hydrodynamics of how fish swim, 

 about fish physiology, about the value 

 of sharks for research, the value of 

 sharks as food. We're going to 

 capitalize on that interest to teach peo- 

 ple an awful lot about the sea." 



The shark tank was donated to the 

 center by the Telephone Pioneers of 

 America. 



For more information on the new 

 aquarium, call 919/458-8257. 



After a hard day's 

 work in the field back in 

 1587, colonist Ananias 

 Dare probably thought 

 there was nothing better 

 than a hot meal served 

 up in a pancheon and a 

 corrugated bowl. 



Not much is known about the Dares 

 or any of the other members of the 

 Lost Colony, but artist Jan Mann has 

 an idea of what the pottery they used 

 may have looked like. She and her hus- 

 band, owners of Wildflower Pottery in 

 Godwin, N.C, were commissioned by 

 America's 400th Anniversary Commit- 

 tee to recreate 16th-century eating and 

 drinking vessels. 



Their work is on display and for sale 

 in many places including the site of the 

 Elizabeth II in Manteo and the N.C. 

 Museum of Natural History in 

 Raleigh. If your school or library 

 would like to see some of their work, 

 Jan and her husband have donated a 

 set to UNC Sea Grant for educational 

 loan. The collection includes drinking 

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