. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Photo by Howard Kerby. ** Chris Okano fished for striped bass for eight years until he finally went broke, he says. Instead of giving up on fishing altogether, Okano has decided to try another angle—raising striped bass hybrids in a culture opera- tion. ** Singleton Jr.'s 40-acre pond near Washington, , may serve a dual purpose. He uses it to pump sand for his concrete business, and he'll try to raise striped bass hybrids in its waters. In Columbus County, the Wac- camaw-Siouan Development Associa
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Photo by Howard Kerby. ** Chris Okano fished for striped bass for eight years until he finally went broke, he says. Instead of giving up on fishing altogether, Okano has decided to try another angle—raising striped bass hybrids in a culture opera- tion. ** Singleton Jr.'s 40-acre pond near Washington, , may serve a dual purpose. He uses it to pump sand for his concrete business, and he'll try to raise striped bass hybrids in its waters. In Columbus County, the Wac- camaw-Siouan Development Associa- tion has constructed 12 quarter-acre ponds for raising channel catfish and striped bass hybrids. Executive Direc- tor Gloria Patrick says the association will use the ponds to show local farm- ers how they may be able to supple- ment their incomes. So far, aquaculture is only a fledg- ling industry in coastal North Carolina. But it's people like Okano, Singleton and Patrick who may push the industry from the fledgling stage into viability. At a recent Sea Grant workshop, 20 participants joined a team of re- searchers and advisory personnel to find out more about the potential for the industry here—particularly for the striped bass hybrid. Ron Hodson, UNC Sea Grant associate director, offers three reasons why hybrid culture looks promising: "It grows faster, is more disease resis- tant and hardier than either of the parent species. It has potential because of the market for striped bass that is already available. And in North Carolina we have the water and the climate for this particular ; But even with such positive out- looks. Randy Rouse, marine advisory agent at Sea Grant's aquaculture facility in Aurora, cautions potential aquaculturists to investigate the market before investing time and money in an operation. "Set up ahead of time where you're going to sell your product and how much you're going to sell it for," says Rouse. If you deter-
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