Fly Fishing Lesson
October 30, 2007
Duke Marine Lab, Beaufort, NC
Our semester ended with our very own Stu teaching the basics of fly-fishing to some of us in Beaufort. We learned some of the different techniques for casting. None of us caught anything except little pieces of grass, but it was a beautiful afternoon and we all had a wonderful time. Thanks, Stu!
2007 Earth Jam
October 16, 2007
Bryant Center, Duke University, Durham
Some of our officers to headed Duke’s Durham campus on October 16, 2007 for Duke University’s annual Earth Jam festival. We brought out our sustainable fishing game and Seafood Watch cards to educate passing students. Several students showed great interest in our table and even joined DukeFish. Many of these new members will contribute to our Durham initiative, working with Caitlin Luderer, our Durham liaison, to pursue DukeFish activities inland.
21st Annual North Carolina Seafood Festival
October 6, 2007
Morehead City Waterfront
The 2007 North Carolina Seafood Festival was a huge success! DukeFish joined forces with student chapter of The Coastal Society and sold over 1,000 grilled shrimp kabobs! Flying the Carteret Catch flag to signify our locally-caught seafood and offering an alternative to fried food were key factors to our booming business. On Sunday, day two of the festival, we boiled off the rest of the shrimp and sold bowls of peel-and-eat shrimp since our kabob supplies had run out. We served sustainable, channel-caught shrimp from Pamlico Sound that we had purchased from FishTowne in Beaufort, NC. Channel-net shrimping uses fixed-gear nets in channels where tides bring the shrimp to the net. Shrimp of all sizes are caught and brought aboard in almost perfect condition. The channel-net method results in less bycatch than other shrimping methods, such as trawling, and uses less fuel because the fishing boats remain stationary while catching the shrimp. We netted nearly $1,000 for DukeFish, $300 of which was donated to Carteret Catch. A big thanks goes to all of the volunteers from Duke’s marine lab who helped us peel shrimp, prep kabobs, and man the booth at the festival.
Seafood Symposium: Complete Seafood
October 5, 2007
Durham and Beaufort
On October 5, 2007, over 50 students, faculty, and community members gathered in Beaufort and Durham to discuss sustainable seafood. The symposium, entitled “Complete Seafood”, brought together experts from diverse backgrounds to create a great dialogue on sustainability, including issues of human health, conservation, and economics. The symposium was co-sponsored by DukeFish, the Nicholas Institute, and Green Wave.
The six panelists included Timothy Fitzgerald, from Environmental Defense, who opened the symposium by providing an overview of the issues and highlighting the public health concerns surrounding mercury and PCB contamination in fish. Marty Smith, a fisheries economist at Duke University’s Nicholas School, discussed the economic factors affecting sustainable seafood purchasing (and selling) practices. Conservation biologist, Larry Crowder, from Duke University’s Marine Lab, detailed the problem of bycatch in many fisheries.
The next part of the symposium focused locally. Kelly Murthrey, owner of Piccata’s Restaurant in Morehead City, a Carteret Catch business, talked about his restaurant’s choice to sell only local seafood. Our own Elia Herman (DukeFish President) followed with the results of a seafood survey that she, Suzanne Blake (DukeFish Secretary), and several other graduate students had done of North Carolina Seafood restaurants in the spring of 2007. The symposium wrapped up with David Tucker, a retailer from Blue Ocean Market in Morehead City, who discussed his current practices and the obstacles he faces in selling local, sustainable seafood.
Pivers Island Clean-Up and Scavenger Hunt
September 6, 2007
Duke Marine Lab, Beaufort
DukeFish kicked off the year with a beach clean-up of Piver’s Island, home to the Duke University Marine Lab (DUML) and NOAA. In total, over 40 people participated, including CEM students from the 1st and 2nd year class and volunteers from the Marine Lab and NOAA. It was a great way to give back to the community and over 1,000 pieces of trash were picked up! Students and volunteers were split into groups of 5-6 and then sent out to clean the island. While picking up trash, they also were on the lookout for flags hidden throughout the island, which were markers for the scavenger hunt. Five flags were hidden, each with a question related to fisheries, such as the year that the Magnuson-Stevens Act was put into effect (1976), the gear used by fishermen to reduce sea turtle bycatch (TEDs – turtle exclusion devices), etc., and the team that answered the most correctly won. Of the 9 teams that participated, three teams got all five questions correct, leading to sudden death, where teams were asked to list as many of the commercially viable species of fish in North Carolina as they could. Teams were also awarded prizes for the most trash picked up (341 pieces) and the most unusual piece of trash collected from the day (can of hair wax). The winners received DUML beach towels, DUML cups filled with goodies, or a Green Wave mug!
2007 Earth Day
April 20, 2007
Duke University, Durham
The Duke Student AFS chapter had a successful inaugural event at the University’s Earth Day celebration on April 20th. The well-themed fish table hailed as one of the most fun stops at the event. Our goals for the day were to publicize the group, to recruit members and to educate the public about sustainable seafood practices. We were successful spreading our name by selling unique, yet functional Duke Fish slap koozies and signing up new members to the Society and our email list.
Many passers-by were intrigued by our fishing attire and seafood quiz game. To win a treat, participants would fish in our small ocean (a blue bucket) for paper fish. Each fish was labeled with the species name, and how it was caught. The contestant then had to decide if this was a sustainable capture method and could choose to put the fish back in the ocean, or on a plate. Monterey Bay Seafood Watch and Blue Ocean Institute wallet cards were distributed at the table. Many people were surprised to see some of their favorite catches on the avoid list and said the card would be a useful reference when grocery shopping and eating out. It was a great first outing for Duke Fish and the positive response has us positioned us for a big cast off next fall!
