COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Fishery Resource Grants and Blue Crab 

 Research Grants Awarded for 2005 



Nc 



Jorth Carolina's fishers and scientists 

 will team up to study the state's rich coastal 

 resources this year, thanks to the N.C. Fishery 

 Resource Grant Program (FRG) and the Blue 

 Crab Research Program. 



Funded by the N.C. General Assembly 

 and administered by North Carolina Sea Grant, 

 the FRG and Blue Crab programs support 

 cooperative research based on ideas from 

 the fishing community. The program helps 

 partner fishers with academic researchers to 

 ensure useful results for fishers and resource 

 managers. 



"The FRG and Blue Crab programs 

 provide a unique opportunity for fishers to 

 be involved in research activities that direcdy 

 affect their livelihoods," says Ronald G. 

 Hodson, North Carolina Sea Grant director. 



Fifteen FRG projects, totaling $633,998, 

 and 13 Blue Crab projects, totaling $314,780 

 were approved for 2005. The projects 

 encompass a variety of topics and coastal 



areas, ranging from an assessment of spiny 

 dogfish populations along the Outer Banks to 

 an examination of blue crab distributions in 

 the Cape Fear River Estuary. 



Two previous FRG projects were so 

 successful at generating data that they have 

 been funded for a second year. 



One project, led by Ocracoke fisher and 

 mathematician Eugene Ballance, will continue 

 using satellite mapping and sonar imaging 

 technology to modernize 1 18-year-old oyster 

 survey maps of Pamlico Sound. 



Another project to continue assessing 

 shrimp fishery bycatch in North Carolina's 

 southeastern inside waters will be conducted 

 by Wrightsville Beach shrimper Denny 

 McCuiston and Wilmington biologist Elaine 

 Logothetis. 



For more information on the FRG and 

 Blue Crab programs, visit North Carolina Sea 

 Grant online at www.ncseagrant.org and click 

 on "Research Areas." -K.A. 



Leatherback Nesting on Bogue Banks 



I wo leatherback 

 sea turtle nests on Bogue 

 Banks beaches are drawing 

 attention. 



The first leatherback 

 nest was laid in mid-May on 

 Pine Knoll Shores, according 

 to Matthew Godfrey, coor- 

 dinator of the N.C. Wildlife 

 Resources Commission's 

 Sea Turtle Project. 



Leatherbacks, which 

 are the largest sea turtles 



in the world, are an endangered species and are more common in Florida than in North Carolina. 

 However, in the past few years, some leatherbacks have nested in Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout, 

 according to Godfrey. The adults average 6 to 8 feet long and 1 ,000 to 2,000 pounds. 



Leatherbacks have dark leathery skin covering a thin bony layer on the hard shells. Other sea 

 turtles — including loggerheads, which are more common in North Carolina — have hardened scutes 

 or plaques on their shells. 



Find out more about the leatherback nesting: www.floridctleatherbacks.com or www.seaturtle.org. 



-A.G. 



Day at Docks 

 Celebration 



^)n Hatteras Island, fishing 

 traditions flourish — from fishing for 

 flounder with pound nets to long-lining 

 for sharks far out in the Atlantic. 



To honor the island's fishing 

 heritage, the First Annual "Day at the 

 Docks: A Celebration of Hatteras Island 

 Watermen" will be held Sept. 1 7 at the 

 town waterfront off N.C. 1 2, in the heart 

 of Hatteras Village. 



The festival will include exhibits 

 and demonstrations of fishing boats and 

 seafood cleaning, as well as competitions, 

 including a survival suit contest. 



The Blessing of the Fleet on the 

 evening of Sept. 1 6 will kick off the 

 celebration. 



Day at the Docks is sponsored 

 by the Hatteras Village Charterboat 

 Association, the Hatteras-Ocracoke 

 Auxiliary of the N.C. Fisheries Association, 

 North Carolina Sea Grant, the Hatteras 

 Village Civic Association and the Outer 

 Banks Visitors Bureau. 



For more information, contact 

 Susan West, 252/995-4131, 

 ridgeroad@earthlink.net. — A.G. 



COASTWATCH 3 



