Water quality studies supported by Sea Grant help guide 

 fishery management plans as well as coastal land-manage- 

 ment policies. Phi'to by Jim Bahen 



♦ Supported research that led to the first ocean and coastal 

 law course taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel 

 Hill's School of Law in 1977; 



♦ Organized North Carolina's first conference on environ- 

 mental law with the N.C. Bar Association and the UNC Institute 

 of Government in 1984; 



♦ Organized the first conference on coastal development 

 with the N.C. Bar Association in 1986; 



♦ Released Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study — North 

 Carolina 's Estuaries: A Pilot Study for Managing Multiple Use 

 in the State's Public Trust Waters in 1990; 



♦ Published North Carolina 's Ocean Stewardship Area: 

 A Management Study — a strategic plan to improve coastal 

 management in 1994; and 



♦ Compiled recommendations for developing comprehen- 

 sive public trust policies for the state in 1998. 



Sea Grant fisheries specialist Bob Hines, right, provides 

 information and technical assistance to enhance commercial 



crabbers' efforts. Photo by Scott D. Taylor 



HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS 



Nutrients are essential to river and coastal estuarine 

 ecosystems. They feed the growth of phytoplankton, which form 

 the base of the food chain. But in excess, they can cause 

 unmanageable growth of algae and other aquatic plants that rob 

 the water of oxygen — resulting in fish kills and fish disease. In 

 the 1970s, severe outbreaks of blue-green algal blooms on the 

 Chowan River were catalysts for groundbreaking Sea Grant 

 research — much of which is being replicated by Sea Grant 

 researchers tackling harmful algal blooms concerns in other 

 coastal systems. Researchers: 



♦ Developed models to correlate algal bloom outbreaks 

 with water flow dynamics; 



♦ Determined that high rates of phosphorous and nitrogen 

 are key nutrients that support algal blooms in aquatic systems; 



♦ Developed models to show the impact of nutrients on 

 estuarine and freshwater systems, including the potential changes 

 in food-web dynamics; 



♦ Developed quantitative estimates for the necessary 

 reduction of these nutrients; 



♦ Provided scientific findings resulting in regulatory limits 

 on nutrient discharges into the river; and 



♦ Identified the dinoflagelette Pfiesteria for the first time 

 in 1991. 



COMMERCIAL & RECREATIONAL FISHERIES 



Fisheries have received significant emphasis from the 

 beginning of the North Carolina Sea Grant program. As benefi- 

 ciaries of research and targets of outreach, fisheries continue to 



Continued 



1 1 \^YwY 



COASTWATCH 9 



