n 



^jmn^ing Made 



"You have to see it to believe it," Sessions 

 says as he loads his boat with gear one August 

 evening. 



His 19-foot boat is loaded with small 

 rectangular traps secured to the flat bow of 

 the vessel. Two piles of green nets fill the 

 remaining space in the front of the small craft. 

 Sessions slowly trolls the shallow waterway, 

 waiting for conditions to be "just right." 



As the sunset fades, Sessions drops anchor 

 near a marshy shoreline and jumps out into the 

 water. 



"It feels like bath water out here tonight," 

 he says as he wades towards the bow of the 

 boat. 



From the port side of the boat, Sessions 

 picks up the end of a net and begins pulling it towards the shoreline. The 

 60-foot net is outfitted with floats at the top and a chain along the bottom. 

 In the water, the floats and chains stretch the net the complete depth of the 

 water column. Sessions secures one end of the net to the shoreline and 

 fastens the opposite end to a PVC pipe set in the waterway. 



He sloshes back to the boat and picks up a trap. 



The rectangular trap is made from 5/8-inch wire mesh, the same 

 mesh size used by trawl boats. At one end, a funnel-shaped opening leads 

 into the center of the trap. Sessions places the "funnel" of the trap next to 

 the PVC pipe. Using metal rods, he secures a second trap directly on top 

 of the first one. This design submerges the two 

 funnel openings, but allows the top edge of the 

 trap to protrude above the waterline, "so the 

 shrimp can't swim over," explains Sessions. 



From the starboard side of the boat, he 

 pulls an identical net. Attaching one end to a 

 PVC pole on the opposite side of the funnel, he 

 extends the net out into the waterway. When he 

 finishes setting up the trap, the nets look like 

 extended wings. 



"That's it. If we were just fishing, we 

 could go home now," Sessions says. He 

 has taken only 15 minutes to set up the first 

 commercial-size study trap of the evening. 



Looking back at the trap, he and his 

 companions see glowing orange eyes of several 

 shrimp swimming along the nets and filling in 

 the end of the trap. 



"I can't believe it," exclaims a researcher 

 along for the ride. 



"That's what most people say when 

 they see this thing work," replies Sessions 



In this "shrimp trap, " wing-like lead nets guide shrimp toward the mesh traps at the end. 



with an I-told-you-so wink. 



No need to bait the traps, no hours spent trawling the waterway 

 — just some simple nets, a "minnow" trap and a small boat. No wonder 

 people think this is just another fishing tale. 



Traditional Trawling 



To fully appreciate Sessions' trap, one must first understand 

 traditional shrimping in North Carolina. 



Commercial shrimping is a profitable industry for the state, valued 

 at more than $9 million in 2004. Commercial otter trawlers catch most of 



Many shrimpers along North Carolina's central coast use skimmer trawls, originally intro- 

 duced to the state by North Carolina Sea Grant more than a decade ago. 



Coastwatch I Winter 2006 I www.ncseagnmt.org 



