"Igotabetterunderstandingofwhat 

 professors do by sitting down and talking 

 with them. I found out that they don't 

 just come up with research results 

 in their head but spend a lot of time 

 figuring out the results. " 

 —Paul Rose 



~ 1 



AS TH E PALE PI N K SU N PEEKS 

 THROUGH THE MORNING SKY, 



Paul Rose and Keith Horsefield head into 

 the Currituck Sound in a boat loaded with 

 menhaden bait for crabs. 



With the wind blowing from the southwest, 

 Rose, dressed in orange rubber rain gear, slows 

 the boat and uses a pole to pull close to a buoy 

 and orange crab pot. 



The men, both commercial crabbers, slip 

 on yellow gloves. As Rose operates the electric 



"We fish the pots every other day. I have 800 

 crab pots in the sound." 



For more than 23 years, he has harvested 

 blue crabs in the Currituck Sound. From March 

 through May, Rose harvests hard crabs and 

 peeler/soft crabs. Through the rest of the crab 

 season, he focuses on hard crabs. 



"There have been a lot of changes since I 

 started," says Rose, who also owns a seafood 

 business. "There are less crabs, and more people 

 are crabbing." 



LEFT TO RIGHT: Paul Rose has been crabbing in the Currituck Sound for years. • Keith Horsefield uses menhaden as 

 claws. • During the project, Paul Rose shared his challenges and learned from scientists and managers. He also learned 



pot puller, Horsefield retrieves the pot holding 

 three females, distinguished by their red-tipped 

 claws, and two large male blue crabs. 



'The large males or jimmies' usually bring 

 a higher dollar than the females or 'sooks,' " 

 Rose says. But females sell better in Baltimore 

 and New York, where large Asian populations 

 prefer the females carrying eggs. 



Rose sorts the crabs on a culling table and 

 drops them into baskets. Meanwhile, Horsefield 

 puts menhaden bait into the pot and lowers it 

 back into the sound. 



During several hours on the water, the men 

 pull up more than 350 crab pots. 



"It is good aerobic exercise," says Rose. 



lncseagrant.org 



PI I HT PRO I F( r 



As a veteran commercial crabber, Rose 

 was among several invited participants in the 

 Blue Crab Collaborative Learning Project. Led 

 by North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries specialist 

 Sara Mirabilio, the project included commercial 

 crabbers, as well as university researchers, fishery 

 managers and environmental nonprofit staff 

 who follow the blue crab life cycle. 



Through a series of workshops conducted 

 by Mirabilio and others, the group tried to 

 improve communication and understanding 

 among blue crab stakeholders. The project was 

 funded by The N.C. Blue Crab Research Program 

 - which is administered by North Carolina Sea 



18 Coastwatch I Spring 2006 



