COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Piece of History Returns to Fort Fisher 



The Fort Fisher State Historic Site is commemorating the 140th anniversary of the end of 

 the Civil War by recapturing part of its history. 



The famed 8-ton Armstrong cannon used at the fort during the Civil War will be on display 

 until February 2006. The Armstrong is on loan from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 



The cannon — capable of hurling 1 50-pound shells up to five miles — featured innovative 

 technology that helped change the design of artillery in its day. It was an important asset for Fort 

 Fisher, which guarded the Cape Fear River and Wilmington — the last port open to blockade 

 runners that supplied goods to the Confederacy in the waning days of the war. 



When Fort Fisher and Wilmington fell to Union troops early 

 in 1865, the South's major port and rail supply line was severed. 

 The war ended in 90 days. 



Two additional Civil War-era guns, on loan from the U.S. 

 Navy, also will be displayed for the anniversary year. 



Fort Fisher, a National Historic Landmark, is located south 

 of Kure Beach. It is open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays 

 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, or reservations for group tours, 

 call 910/458-5538. - P.S. 



USS Monitor Center Groundbreaking 



"The Mariner's Museum and the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently broke ground for 

 the USS Monitor Center in Newport News, Va. 



The new $30 million, state-of-the art exhibition and 

 conservation facility will focus on the famed Civil War ironclad 

 USS Monitor that engaged in an epic battle with the Confederate 

 ironclad CSS Virginia off Hampton Roads, Va., on March 9, 1 862. 



The center will be a national authority and repository 

 for the recovered artifacts and other materials, research and 

 programming related to the history of the famous ironclad that revolutionized naval warfare. 



The wreck site of the Monitor was discovered in 1 973. Two years later, the Monitor site was 

 designated the first National Marine Sanctuary. NOAA began the first expedition in 1977 and 

 continues to sponsor expeditions at the wreck site off Cape Hatteras. 



In 1987, NOAA designated The Mariners' Museum as the repository for artifacts and archives 

 from the Monitor. Since then, the museum has received more than 1 ,1 00 artifacts from the ironclad, 

 including the steam engine, propeller and revolving gun turret. 



To find out more about the center, visit the Web: www.monitorcenter.org. To follow the Monitor 

 expedition, go online to: www.monitor.noaa.gov. — A. G. 



In the Next Issue of Coastwatch 



'uring spring and fall migration seasons, the North Carolina coast is a birder's paradise. 

 Pam Smith updates efforts by agencies and organizations to develop a coastal birding trail. 

 Ann Green takes readers to an Outer Banks fishing tournament that draws hundreds of 

 visually impaired participants. And Kathleen Angione explores a Fishery Resource Grant 

 study of a new device designed to keep bottlenose dolphins away from gill nets. 



ECU to Host 

 Social Science 

 Conference 



seafood industries are shifting 

 to demands of a global marketplace, the 

 culture and economies of North Carolina's 

 coastal communities are changing 

 as well. 



East Carolina University 

 will host "Traditional Fishing 

 Communities: Past, Present, 

 And Future" on March 18. The 

 meeting will be at the Greenville 

 Center, 2200 S. Charles Boulevard 

 on the ECU campus. 



"We will focus on the 

 impacts of regulations, the 

 global economy, the cost/price squeeze, 

 and declining resources on fishing 

 communities," explainsjohn Maiolo, an 

 ECU professor emeritus and one of the 

 conference organizers. 



Speakers will include Barbara Garrity- 

 Blake, a member of the N.C. Marine 

 Fisheries Commission, and Kathi Kitner, 

 an anthropologist with the South Atlantic 

 Fishery Management Council. 



Other speakers will examine 

 legislation and management initiatives 

 that affect communities, and will discuss 

 competing definitions of the term 

 "community," as well as appropriate 

 research and intervention programs. 



This is the second fishing 

 communities conference hosted by ECU. 

 The 2005 meeting also builds upon a 

 socioeconomics meeting hosted by the 

 N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission in 2004. 



Cosponsors of the March meeting will 

 include the Thomas Harriot College of Arts 

 and Sciences, the Department of Sociology 

 and the Coastal Resources Management 

 Program, all at ECU. 



For registration information, 

 contact Don Bradley at 252/328-4838 or 

 bradleyd@mail.ecu.edu. — K.M. 



COASTWATCH 3 



