. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. The delicacy they used to call 'pests' A large sign on a roadway in Car- teret County reads: SHRIMP $ Many a shrimp lover turns out his pockets for a handful or so of those spiny crustaceans. But not long ago, 60 years or so, a fisherman could hardly give shrimp away in coastal North Carolina. Shrimp were considered "pests" that littered fisher- men's nets. Luther Lewis, a 70-odd-year-old Carteret County fisherman, remem- bers when nobody wanted shrimp at all. "There was nobody catch
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. The delicacy they used to call 'pests' A large sign on a roadway in Car- teret County reads: SHRIMP $ Many a shrimp lover turns out his pockets for a handful or so of those spiny crustaceans. But not long ago, 60 years or so, a fisherman could hardly give shrimp away in coastal North Carolina. Shrimp were considered "pests" that littered fisher- men's nets. Luther Lewis, a 70-odd-year-old Carteret County fisherman, remem- bers when nobody wanted shrimp at all. "There was nobody catching 'em then. Nobody wanted 'em," he says. "You could take the rigs they have now and load a boat in a few minutes. "I went long-hauling when I was a Photo by Cassie Griffin. Luther Lewis kid," Lewis says in a low, raspy voice. "We'd see a big school of bluefish out in the sound, all right thick. But one day I had something on the boat to throw in, to the gulls. And the gulls went in after it and came up hauling these big shrimp. It wasn't a thing in the world but those big shrimp going through the ; The findings of two Sea Grant researchers, East Carolina University sociologists John Maiolo and John Bort are proving Lewis' recollections right. With historian William Still, Maiolo and Bort have compiled a history of the North Carolina shrimp fishery. The study is designed to give state management officials an under- standing of a fishery colored by tradi- tion. The shrimp fishery got a slow start in North Carolina. Inadequate refrigeration facilities and poor transportation methods were devastating obstacles for a fishery depending on such a perishable product as shrimp. And, fishermen had obstacles of their own. Boats were small and gear was simple—gill, cast, dip, fyke and pound nets were used. The shrimp fishery had its begin- nings in North Carolina's southeast- ern counties—Brunswick and New Hanover. Maiolo and Bort learned from R. E
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
