COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Gyotaku: Art From the Sea 



Want to add a touch of the sea to 

 your home or office? Consider an ancient 

 Japanese art form: Gyotaku. 



Lessons in "fish rubbing" often are 

 offered at coastal festivals, at the state 

 aquariums and in schools across the state. 

 Or you could try it at home. 



"This would be great for my kindergart- 

 ners," says Donna Martens of Maryland as 

 she made her first 

 prints during the 

 Wings Over Water 

 festival last fall. 



Fresh fish tops 

 your supply list. The 

 fish may be frozen, 

 then thawed, to use 

 again and again. 



Paint or ink 

 choices vary. Acrylics 

 work well for T-shirts. 

 Watercolors are 

 popular for news- 

 print. India ink is the 

 traditional choice for 

 rice-paper prints. 

 Don't forget 

 paintbrushes, water, 

 and newspaper or a 

 tarp to cover your 

 work area. 



Large scales on 

 sea bass or carp 

 provide interesting 

 patterns. Flounder 



TOP: Hilda Bayliss adds the final touch. 

 BOTTOM: Gyotaku highlights 

 scale patterns and fin shapes. 



have detailed fins. The lookdown offers an 

 unusual shape. 



First, wash the fish to remove the 

 protective mucus, then pat dry. 



Apply an even coat of the paint or ink 

 on the top side. Avoid painting the eye. 



Place the paper or material over the 

 painted fish, and gently rub with your 

 fingertips. Don't forget the fins. For larger 



fish, a piece of putty or 

 clay can brace the fins. 



Carefully pull the 

 paper or material off 

 to see your print. Add 

 more paint for the next 

 print — or wash the 

 fish and change colors. 

 The prints improve 

 with multiple 

 rubbings. 



When the print is 

 dry, add the eye with 

 black ink. "That is 

 what gives it life," says 

 Hilda Bayliss, who 

 began teaching fish 

 rubbing about 20 

 years ago. 



Sea Grant marine 

 educator Lundie 

 Spence agrees. 

 "Matted and framed 

 fish prints are often 

 found in seaside 

 galleries." - KM 



Mosher Takes New Role 



J\atie Mosher has been named North 

 Carolina Sea Grant's assistant director for 

 communications. 



Communications coordinator since 

 October 1998, Mosher joins the management 

 team for the program, a state-federal 

 partnership that sponsors research, education 

 and outreach projects that promote science- 

 based solutions to coastal issues. 



Mosher will continue her duties as 



managing editor of Coastwatch, the 

 program's centerpiece publication. She also 

 oversees production of Sea Grant materials 

 and contact with the media. 



A former reporter for The Raleigh Times 

 and The News & Observer, she also served as 

 assignment manager for the WLFL-TV news. 

 An Ohio native, she is a graduate of Kent 

 State University and holds a master's degree 

 from North Carolina State University. 



Researchers Make 

 New Discovery 

 About Shell 

 Disease in 

 Blue Crabs 



North Carolina Sea Grant 

 researcher Ed Noga and his colleagues 

 have unlocked some new mysteries 

 about blue crab disease. 



Noga found that you couldn't tell 

 the extent of shell disease in blue crabs 

 by measuring lesions. Shell disease is 

 one of the most common diseases in 

 crustacean aquaculture — including 

 crabs, shrimp and lobsters — and is 

 often used to assess environmental 

 health in fishery populations. 



"There is no correlation between 

 how large the shell lesions are and the 

 severity of the tissue damage," says 

 Noga, professor at North Carolina 

 State University College of Veterinary 

 Medicine. 



'To accurately assess the extent of 

 shell disease, blue crabs need to be 

 examined under a microscope," he 

 says. "We think that biologists dealing 

 with shell disease epidemics in 

 crustaceans need to be aware of this 

 because in the past, the severity of the 

 outbreaks has been determined by 

 simply recording the size of the shell 

 disease lesions. We know now that this 

 is not an accurate means of assessing 

 the problem." 



The Sea Grant study was 

 conducted over several years on 

 diseased crabs found in the Albemarle- 

 Pamlico estuary. Noga collaborated 

 with Lester Khoo of Mississippi State 

 University and Roxanna Smolowitz of 

 the Marine Biological Laboratory, 

 Woods Hole, Mass. 



For more information, call Noga 

 at 91 9/51 3-6236 ore-mail: 

 ed_noga@ncsu. edu. 



COASTWATCH 



