. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. When Sessions developed his traps nearly a decade ago, he showed his friends and neighbors how to make their own. Soon, houses all along the waterway had their own homemade shrimp trap. But, lots on Topsail Island are only about 100 feet wide, and sometimes three or four houses in a row would each set out a trap. "[That] was just too many, too close," says Sessions. The arguments escalated to the point where people were pulling up or destroying their neighbor's traps and DMF was called in to regu
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. When Sessions developed his traps nearly a decade ago, he showed his friends and neighbors how to make their own. Soon, houses all along the waterway had their own homemade shrimp trap. But, lots on Topsail Island are only about 100 feet wide, and sometimes three or four houses in a row would each set out a trap. "[That] was just too many, too close," says Sessions. The arguments escalated to the point where people were pulling up or destroying their neighbor's traps and DMF was called in to regulate the situation. "We had heard of the traps, but didn't realize how widespread their use had become," says David Taylor of DMF, referring to the recreational gear. Limited experience with this type of shrimping forced DMF to halt use of the traps — both commercial and recreational — until further studies could be done to assess the impact of the gear. Researchers first became interested in testing Sessions' traps after he introduced his design at a Shrimp Fishery Management Plan advisory committee meeting. "I want it to be available as an alternative to trawling. I don't want to shut down any fisheries or end traditional trawling. But I think if it's out there and more people can use it, people can decide what's best for ; —Kenny Sessions "When Kenny presented the details, I knew right away that this study would be a perfect candidate for the FRG program," says Scott Baker, a fisheries specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant. 'That's the beauty of the FRG program," says Baker. "It allows fishermen to have an active part in the gear development and evaluation ; Sessions' FRG project along the southern coast is one of three shrimp trap studies being conducted. DMF is testing traps along the central coast, and another researcher obtained a scientific and educational collecting permit from DMF to test the traps fur
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