SEA 



SCIENCE 



to H.L that it is time to pull up his own pots 

 and move west as well. 



"I was out that way yesterday, and the 

 jimmies were huge; probably eight inches from 

 point to point," H.L says, adding that he'll 

 start moving his pots this afternoon. 



Blue crabs are attracted to the pots 

 by the smell of the bait. The pots H.L. and 

 his family have been fishing are baited with 

 menhaden, or"fatback" as locals call the 



fish. H.L. doesn't 

 like to use shrimp 

 heads, another 

 bait popular in the 

 area, because they 

 are often rotten. 

 The smell attracts 

 the crabs, but it's 

 not pleasant for 

 the crabbers. 



H.L. relates 

 the story of a 

 fellow crabber that 

 only uses shrimp 

 heads. 



"You can 

 smell him coming 

 a mile away. I 

 can't stand to 

 use them, but they catch good crabs, so 

 sometimes you have to," H.L. says with a 

 laugh. 



Shrimp heads seem to catch better to 

 the west, where H.L. is about to move his 

 pots, so he is already preparing for the smelly 

 weeks ahead. Switching bait is another 

 example of how the crabbers adapt their 

 technique to the local area. 



Michael starts describing the strategy 

 the Bonds use. "Around here, we catch more 

 females in the east. And more males in the 

 west. Seems like the males prefer the red and 

 black pots, and the females like the yellow 

 pots." 



Many of their personal pots are red 

 because they have been dipped in an 

 anti-fouling solution to prevent algae from 

 growing on them. And, "Sharon likes red," 

 jokes Michael. Even still, some of their pots 



end up coated with the offending long, green 



strands. 



The pots used for the study have to be 

 kept clean so researchers can be sure crabs 

 see the color. Every few weeks, H.L. pulls up 

 empty study pots and leaves them sitting on 

 his boat overnight. None of the pots have 

 been fouled by algae, so far. 



"It's a lot easier than dipping them, and 

 it seems to be working," says H.L. 



COLORFUL CONCLUSIONS 



The study is designed to mimic the 

 actual fishing practices of crabbers in the 

 Albemarle Sound: H.L. uses pot colors typical 

 for the area. He moves the pots as the crabs 

 move. And he uses the same bait he puts in 

 his regular pots. 



Although the study isn't finished, the 

 Bonds are starting to see some trends. 



"So far, the red and black pots seem 

 to be dominant. If you look back through 

 this notebook, you can see the highest total 

 catches go with the red [or] black pots," says 

 Sharon. 



That finding is interesting, according 

 to Steve Rebach, blue crab researcher and 

 associate director of North Carolina Sea 

 Grant. "Studies have shown that blue crabs 

 can't see red." 



If the red pots are difficult for the crabs 

 to see, those pots may be somewhat invisible, 

 thereby catching more crabs attracted to the 

 bait. If the pot is in deeper water, black might 

 also be invisible, suggests Rebach. 



It's hard to say how the results of 

 this study will be received by the crabbing 

 community according to Lynn Henry, marine 

 biologist at the N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries. Henry has heard the lore for years, 

 from all regions of the state. Every crabber he 

 knows uses a different strategy. 



Even if H.L's study finds a "better" pot 

 color in the Albemarle, this one study will not 

 likely "tell the entire tale," Henry says. 



"Different areas have different bottom 

 types, different salinities and water clarity," he 

 explains. 



These, and other parameters, affect how 

 the crabs behave, with many variables at work 

 in different areas. Henry explains that just 

 because red pots, for example, work best in 

 one place doesn't mean they will work well 

 everywhere. 



Although the results of H.L's study 

 aren't expected to lay the color debate to 

 rest, they will provide a starting point for 

 additional research into blue crab behavior 

 — with each new project adding a new "hue" 

 to the spectrum of information. □ 



COASTWATCH 25 



