Grant and funded by the N.C. General Assembly. 



"We wanted to break down stigmas 

 between the groups and show that research data 

 can be useful to commercial crabbers as well as 

 scientists and fishery managers," Mirabilio says. 



For years, watermen have been at odds 

 with fishery managers over the level of state and 

 federal regulations. 



"There are probably too many regulations," 

 says Rose. "But to stay in business, you have to 

 learn to adapt to the regulations." 



Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to address 

 a variety of issues, including stock protection, 

 environmental degradation, wasteful or 

 damaging fishing practices and user conflicts, as 

 well as insufficient data and public education. 



To ensure a sustainable fishery, resource 

 users need to develop a better understanding 

 of the blue crab's complex life history and 

 strategies implemented by the state to regulate 

 harvest and protect juveniles and spawning 

 stock, the report says. 



discussions away from specific contentious 

 issues to meaningful discussions of regulations," 

 saysJackThigpen, North Carolina Sea Grant 

 extension director. "The workshops were 

 conducted in the context of 'sustaining nature's 

 resource' versus 'managing nature' to ensure the 

 viability of the resource." 



The project included two two-day retreats 

 and one daylong session where participants 

 shared meals and exchanged information. During 

 "workplace exchanges," a fishery manager, 



bait in his crab pots. • The crabbers pull up more than 350 crab pots in one day. • The catch includes large male crabs, known as "jimmies, " and females with red-tipped 

 about the Blue Crab Research Program, administered by North Carolina Sea Grant. 



In North Carolina, the blue crab is the 

 state's most valuable commercial fishery. From 

 1 994 to 1 999, North Carolina was the top blue 

 crab producing state in the country, according 

 to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. 

 In 2002, North Carolina still accounted for 21 

 percent of the nation's total harvest, second only 

 to Louisiana with 31 percent. 



However, in 2004 the value of the blue 

 crab harvest in North Carolina declined by $1 2.6 

 million, yielding the lowest value during the 1 0- 

 year period from 1 995 to 2004, according to the 

 N.C. Division of Marine Fishenes (DMF). 



In December 2004, the N.C. Marine 

 Fisheries Commission updated the Blue Crab 



To open dialogue among commercial 

 crabbers, fishery managers and scientists, 

 North Carolina Sea Grant held three workshops 

 in 2005, where 1 7 participants exchanged 

 information on FMP topics. 



("IIITIIRAI MODFI 



The project was based on a model used 

 by University of Maryland anthropologist 

 Michael Paolisso. Through a program partially 

 funded by Maryland Sea Grant, Paolisso 

 interviewed Maryland watermen and collected 

 data that helped identify their cultural model for 

 managing a blue crab fishery. 



"His model provides a platform for shifting 



crabber, shedder and a crab dealer, as well as a 

 university researcher, explained what they do on a 

 typical day and the challenges they face. 



"I got a better understanding of what 

 professors do by sitting down and talking with 

 them," says Rose, whose hands are gnawed like 

 pin cushions from blue crab pinches. "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." 



More specifically, Rose expanded 

 his knowledge about the female blue crab 

 reproductive cycle. "I always thought that 

 females have one clutch of eggs, but they actually 



Continued 



Coastwatch I Spring 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



