Coastwatch 



Senior Editors 

 Daun Daemon 

 Jeannie Fans Norris 



Contributing Editor 

 Debbi Sykes Braswell 



Editorial Assistant 

 Athena Osborne 



Designer 

 Linda Noble 



Circulation Manager 

 Sandra Harris 



The North Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Program is a federal/state program that 

 promotes the wise use of our coastal and 

 marine resources through research, extension 

 and education. It joined the National Sea Grant 

 College Network in 1970 as an institutional 

 program. Six years later, it was designated a 

 Sea Grant College. Today. North Carolina Sea 

 Grant supports several research projects, 

 a 1 2-member extension program and a 

 communications staff. Ron Hodson is director. 

 The program is funded by the U.S. Department 

 of Commerce's National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration and the state 

 through the University of North Carolina, 

 Coastwatch (ISSN 1068-784X) is published 

 bimonthly, six times a year, for $15 by the 

 North Carolina Sea Grant College Program, 

 Box 8605, North Carolina State University, 

 Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8605. 

 Telephone: 919/515-2454. Fax: 919/515-7095. 

 E-mail: fans ©unity. ncsu.edu or 

 ddaemon@unity.ncsu.edu. 

 World Wide Web address: 

 http://www2.ncsu.edu/sea_grant/seagrant.html. 

 Periodical Postage paid at Raleigh, N.C. 



POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 



Coastwatch, North Carolina Sea Grant, 

 Box 8605, North Carolina State University, 

 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. 



Front cover photo of 



Oregon Inlet 

 by Scott D. Taylor 



Table of contents photo of 

 boats in Wanchese Harbor 

 by Scott D. Taylor 



Printed on recycled paper. © 



COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



New Sea Grant Director 

 Encourages Involvement 



North Carolina Sea Grant has a 

 new director at the helm. Ron Hodson 

 was named to the post effective July 1, 

 and his first order of business is 

 improving community and university 

 input into the program's priorities. 



Hodson was named interim director 

 in January 1997 after the resignation of 

 B.J. Copeland, who led the program for 

 more than two decades. For 17 years, 

 Hodson was associate 

 director of Sea Grant, a 

 university-based 

 program that fosters 

 the wise use, conserva- 

 tion and development 

 of coastal resources 

 through peer-reviewed 

 research, education 

 and outreach. 



"North Carolina 

 Sea Grant has been 

 one of the best Sea 

 Grant programs in the 

 country under the 

 leadership of B.J. 

 Copeland," Hodson 

 says. "Our goal is to be 

 that good and better." 



Hodson says he will go to extra 

 lengths to ensure that citizens and 

 researchers are involved in setting the 

 program's course. His first step is to 

 establish advisory boards for outreach 

 and research. 



"It's going to be inclusive, and it's 

 up to them — the citizens of North 

 Carolina — to help us decide what we 

 should be concerned about in this state 

 and what issues we should be studying," 

 he says. 



People can share their ideas and 

 concerns by contacting Sea Grant 

 agents, volunteering on the advisory 

 boards or attending Sea Grant work- 

 shops to discuss the issues affecting 

 coastal North Carolina. Later this year, 

 Sea Grant will hold workshops on its 



Ron Hodson 



five subprogram areas: aquaculture, 

 coastal studies, estuarine studies, 

 fisheries and seafood technology. The 

 public and researchers will be invited 

 to attend. 



"We will invite the outreach and 

 research advisory boards and the general 

 public to discuss each area so that we 

 come out of there with the top priorities 

 for the state of North Carolina," Hodson 

 says. "Each of our 

 program areas will get 

 individual treatment." 



Hodson says Sea 

 Grant will continue 

 the type of research 

 that helps resource 

 managers make good 

 decisions and main- 

 tains the quality of life 

 on the coast. For 

 instance, information 

 about how to better 

 manage harmful algal 

 blooms will benefit 

 homeowners, tourists, 

 fishers and people 

 who enjoy the natural 

 resources. 

 Educated as a fisheries biologist, 

 Hodson received his Ph.D. from Texas 

 A&M University in 1973. He has been 

 instrumental in conducting the research 

 and developing the technology used to 

 establish the pond culture of hybrid 

 striped bass in North Carolina and 

 throughout the United States. 



Hodson has served as president of 

 the U.S. chapter of the World Aquacul- 

 ture Society and the Striped Bass 

 Growers Association, which he co- 

 founded. He has received funding for 

 more than 1 8 research projects, authored 

 or co-authored more than 30 scientific 

 publications and directed more than 

 eight graduate students at North 

 Carolina State University. □ 



-J.F.N. 



2 HIGH SEASON 1998 



