They also used traps made from leaves and 

 cord from plant fibers, possibly extracted from 

 bear grass and palmettos, according to Hard 

 Times and a Nickel A Bucket: TJie Struggle and 

 Surxival in North Carolina 's Shrimp Industry 

 by John Maiolo. 



Just prior to World War I, two develop- 

 ments — a new Southport cannery and the 

 adoption of the otter trawl — stimulated a 

 dramatic growth in the shrimping industry, 

 according to Hard Tunes. 



"The otter trawl revolutionized shrimp 

 fishing and replaced the long-haul seine that 

 could only be used in 

 shallow waters," writes 

 Maiolo, now an East 

 Carolina University 

 professor emeritus. "The 

 efficient otter trawl could 

 be used either inshore 

 or in deep water, needed 

 few men to operate it, 

 and yielded a greater 

 production per unit of 

 effort." 



During the late 

 1920s, Brunswick 



County's monopoly of shrimping fisheries 

 began to erode as interested shrimpers from 

 Carteret County arrived to learn how to catch 

 the crustaceans. 



However, Maiolo adds that commercial 

 shrimping did not take off until after 1933 

 — when production steadily increased from 

 338,000 pounds in 1931 to more than 2.5 

 million in 1934. 



"For a long time, shrimp were considered 

 pests," says Hines. "Southport was the first area 

 for commercial shrimping in North Carolina." 



In Hard Tunes, Maiolo describes the 

 editor of the Southport State Port Pilot recalling 

 his first months there in the mid- 1930s: 

 "Living on the waterfront, his sleep was 'rudley 

 shattered by the discordant sound of many 

 noisy gasoline engines' as the trawlers moored 

 along the docks in the harbor prepared to leave 

 in the early morning." 



As more people began shrimping, a unique 

 method of harvesting called "channel netting" 

 developed near Harkers Island in the 1930s. 



Since then, this form of fishing has under- 

 gone numerous modifications. 



TOP: Don Weeks empties a net. BOTTOM LEFT: Weeks sorts through the shrimp and bycatch. BOTTOM 

 RIGHT: Shrimp are put in separate buckets and then iced down. 



"The modem version is set on the stern 

 end of the boat, with ends of the staffs running 

 across the board and resting up the gunwales," 

 writes Maiolo, a former North Carolina Sea 

 Grant researcher. 



As the ebb tide begins to run, the captain 

 locates the edge of the channel or bank, usually 

 with a long pole, and then marks the edge with 

 a buoy, he adds. 



"Then, making allowances for anchor line 

 and bridge length, the fisherman throws one of 

 the anchors overboard and sets it firmly," ac- 

 cording to the book. "The net is then pulled off 

 the stem so that approximately one-third of it 

 will extend off the bank and into the channel." 



Following World War II, the shrimping 

 industry began to emerge as one of the state's 

 most important fisheries. 



By 1953, shrimp production in North 

 Carolina climbed to more than 14 million 

 pounds, according to Maiolo. Throughout the 

 1950s and 1960s, larger vessels that stayed 



longer at sea were introduced. 



The 1 980s brought large harvests for 

 shrimpers. "In 1985, 1 caught more than 1,500 

 pounds of shrimp in one night on the Pamlico 

 Sound," says Styron. 



TRAWLING RESTRICTIONS 



For a number of years, shrimp trawling 

 has been restricted in designated nursery areas 

 in North Carolina. 



"These are the most sensitive areas to 

 bottom-disturbing fishing gear," says Carpenter. 

 "Also, these are areas where very young fish, 

 crab and shrimp develop." 



Some recreational fishing associations 

 want more trawl restrictions for commercial 

 shrimpers. 



"We would like to see less destructive 

 gear used in inland waters like the sounds," 

 says Doug Roberts, board member of Coastal 

 Conservation Association (CCA), North 

 Carolina. 



10 HOLIDAY 2004 



