Taking the Plunge: 



Sea Grant Studies the State's Commercial Fishing Industry 



By Larisa Tatge 



Question: How do you keep 

 North Carolina's fishing industry afloat 

 without depleting the steadily declining 

 fish population? 



N.C. Sea Grant has been assigned 

 by state lawmakers to find possible 

 answers to this paramount problem. 

 Hanging in the balance is North 

 Carolina's seafood industry — and the 

 fresh fish that ends up on your dinner 

 table. 



In March and April, Sea Grant will 

 review proposals submitted by state 

 researchers for this project, says Sea 

 Grant director B.J. Copeland. Selected 

 participants will reap portions of a 



$225,000 research grant appropriated 

 by the state General Assembly for the 

 comprehensive study of North Carolina's 

 fishing industry. 



North Carolina officials lack basic 

 information about the subject, Copeland 

 says. Data is scant about how many 

 people fish in North Carolina and what 

 type of gear they use. 



"Over the past decade, the amount 

 of (fishing) effort has dramatically 

 increased," Copeland says. "There are 

 more pots, more trawl nets. The number 

 of crab pots in the water has tripled." 



Yet, "we don't know many 

 things," he says. "By and large, we 

 don't know how it (the gear) affects 

 the environment." 



22 MARCH i APRIL 1995 



