CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Harry Daniels 

 and a team of researchers from NC State will continue 

 to refine growout technology for southern flounder. 

 • Sea Grant's applied research benefits a variety of 

 coastal communities and user groups. • Hans Paerl of 

 UNC-CH Institute of Marine Sciences takes a water 

 sample from Pamlico Sound. Paerl and colleagues 

 will study changes in nutrient supply and hydrology 

 in the Neuse River Estuary. • Sea Grant researchers 

 remain at the forefront of fisheries and seafood science 

 research. • Development is on the rise in North 

 Carolina, and ECU researchers Don Bradley and Bob 

 Edwards will explore changing land-use patterns in the 

 state s coastal counties. 



Further north, increasing development is 

 taking its toll on another important estuanne 

 system — the Neuse River Estuary (NRE), a 

 tributary to Pamlico Sound and a key nursery 

 for the state's fishenes. Prior Sea Grant research 

 shows that a steady increase in agricultural, 

 urban and industrial development, coupled 

 with several hurricanes and two major droughts 

 during the last decade, has affected primary 

 production, carbon flux, nutrient cycling and 

 food web dynamics in the NRE. 



To combat the harmful effects of nutrient 

 loading — such as algal blooms, hypoxia and 

 fish kills — a nutrient-reduction strategy has been 

 put in place for the NRE. Researcher Hans Paerl, 



from the University of North Carolina at 

 Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences 

 in Morehead City, plans to assess the 

 results and benefits of this strategy while 

 also looking at climatic change in the 

 mid-Atlantic region. 



"This project will provide 

 information vital to understanding food- 

 web ramifications of long-term nutrient 

 management for the Neuse River Estuary 

 and other estuaries influenced by anthropogenic 

 nutrient enrichment and climatic change," says 

 Paerl, who will collaborate with Richard Luettich 

 of UNC-CH IMS andj. ChristopherTaylorof 

 NC State. 



The team plans to examine how changes 

 in nutnent supply and hydrology alter food web 

 structure through changes in the phytoplankton 

 community. Paerl also will look at how reduced 

 oxygen and changes in the phytoplankton 

 community affect grazing zooplankton. 



Paerl says the information that the project 

 generates will be used to develop indicators for 

 water quality. Such indicators can help fisheries 

 managers responsible for evaluating nutrient 

 management strategies for the NRE and other 

 mid-Atlantic estuaries. 



Additional Ecosystems Projects 



• IncorporatingHumans in Ecosystem-Based 

 Models of Fishery Management. Jefferyjohnson, 

 Joseph Luczkovich, Lisa Clough and David 

 Griffith of ECU. 



• Success in Oyster Reef Restoration: Population 

 and Ecosystem Measures. Martin Posey and Troy 

 Alphin of UNCW. 



SEAFOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 



With increased demand for healthy meals 

 and competition from imports, the seafood 

 industry in North Carolina must continue 

 to diversify to stay competitive. Sea Grant 

 researchers are on the forefront of developing 

 new ingredients and processing technologies. 



Because the availability of certain whitefish 

 species used to make surimi — water-washed, 

 minced fish flesh processed into a vanety of 

 foods — have become limited, processors need 

 to improve the amount of raw protein, or fish 

 meat, to make the most of the resource. 



Foryears, conventional surimi production 



recovered only 60 to 70 percent of "functional" 

 protein, or protein that would gel when heated 

 and give texture to processed seafood. Recently, 

 Tyre Lanier of NC State altered the conventional 

 surimi production process to recover close to 90 

 percent of functional protein. 



Lanier's latest project will focus on exacting 

 better control of the process at a biochemical 

 level. Forthe project, Lanier will extract proteins 

 from surimi and inject them into fish fillets. He 

 aims to understand how the proteins change 

 shape and pick up water in response to different 

 heating conditions. Understanding how these 

 proteins change will help industry leaders adjust 

 their process parameters to retain the maximum 

 amount of moisture in a fillet, thus improving its 

 flavor and texture. 



Refining the process could boost the 

 profitability of surimi-based products, as well as 

 decrease fishing pressure on highervalue species 

 used for surimi, such as Alaskan pollock. 



"Additionally, the new mannade injection 

 application could open new markets for North 

 Carolina fish species, such as menhaden, 

 particularly in Asian and developing countries 

 where stronger fish flavor is desired in fillet 

 productions," Lanier notes. 



OTHER SEA GRANT EFFORTS 



Sea Grant also sponsors a vanety of other 

 research efforts. University researchers in North 

 Carolina may apply for minigrants, often used as 

 "seed funds" to test a theory before suggesting a 

 major project. 



In addition, North Carolina Sea Grant 

 encourages researchers to apply for various 

 competitions run by the National Sea Grant 

 College Program on topics such as oyster disease 

 and invasive species. 



The National Marine Fisheries Service 

 has asked North Carolina Sea Grant twice to 

 administer competitions for research efforts to 

 reduce interactions between marine mammals 

 and fishing gear. 



And the N.C. General Assembly funds two 

 programs administered by Sea Grant: the N.C. 

 Fishery Resource Grant Program and the N.C. 

 Blue Crab Research Program. 



"We are proud to provide such a diverse array 

 of research opportunities," says Michael Voiland, 

 North Carolina Sea Grant's executive director, n 



CoastH'atch I Autumn 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 21 



