Coastwatch 



Managing Editor 

 Katie Mosher 



Senior Editors 

 Ann Green 

 Pam Smith 



Contributing Editor 

 Lilly Loughner 



Designer 

 L. Noble 



Circulation Manager 

 Sandra Harris 



The North Carolina Sea Grant College Program 



is a federal/state program that promotes 

 stewardship 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 research 

 projects, a 1 5-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 aSSN 1068-784X) 

 is published six times a year by the 

 North Carolina Sea Grant College Program, 

 North Carolina State University, Box 8605, 

 Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8605. 

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

 Subscriptions are $15. 

 E-mail: katie_mosher@ncsu.edu 

 World Wide Web address: 

 http:llwww3Kseagrant.org 

 Periodical Postage paid at Raleigh, N.C. 



POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 



Coastwatch, North Carolina Sea Grant, 

 North Carolina State University. Box 8605, 

 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. 



COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Sea want 



North Carolina "^■^ 



Front cover photo ofmarlin by 

 Scott Kerrigan. © Scott Kerrigan.com. 

 Table of Contents photo of blue crabs 

 by Michael Halminski. 

 Printed on recycled paper. © 



Stop That 



ant 



Res 



esearchers are suggesting that 

 Vitex rotundi folia, or beach vitex, could 

 become the "kudzu of the beach." 



"Now is a good time to discourage 

 its use in North Carolina before it becomes 

 a problem," says David Nash, N.C. Co- 

 operative Extension coastal management 

 specialist based in New Hanover County. 



Beach vitex has been studied exten- 

 sively in South Carolina, where scientists 

 were alarmed by its invasive character. The 

 plant, a fast-growing vine with purple flow- 

 ers, was introduced in this country from 

 Korea as a salt-resistant landscape plant. 



But the aggressive plant often 

 "escapes" into nearby dunes. And that, 

 Nash says, could spell trouble for native 

 sea oats, bitter panicum, seashore elder 

 and sea beach amaranth. 



The worst case scenario is beach vitex 

 taking over frontal dunes and crowding 

 out the native plants that do a much better 

 job at trapping the blowing sand and 

 building the dunes. Nash says he has seen 

 beach vitex completely overtake the dune, 

 crowding out native plants and potentially 

 blocking turtle nesting. Moreover, the 

 winter appearance, a mass of woody 

 stems, is not attractive. 



Though beach vitex is not wide- 

 spread in North Carolina at this point, it 

 has been spotted in Pender, New Hanover 

 and Brunswick counties. 



To learn more about noninvasive 

 coastal landscape plants, contact Nash at 91 0/452-6393 or danash@nhcgov.com. To learn about 

 appropriate dune plants, purchase The Dune Book (UNC-SG-03-03) by Nash and Sea Grant's 

 Spencer Rogers. Send a check in the amount of $5 to: North Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina 

 State University, Campus Box 8605, Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. - P.S. 



Beach vitex is a fast-growing vine with purple flowers. Its invasive 

 nature could spell trouble for native dune plants. 



In the Next Issue of Coastwatch 



An n Green travels with geologist Stan Riggs to Outer Banks' estuarine shorelines featured in 

 a new North Carolina Sea Grant book. Writer Lilly Loughner and photographer Tasha Petty 

 explain whyjacksonville's Wilson Bay project is a water quality model. And just in time for your 

 beach trip — shrimp recipes from Mariner's Menu. 



2 EARLY SUMMER 2004 



