Beach Week returns to Tybee, Jekyll, St. Simons islands

CRD hosted its annual Beach Week celebration June 26-28 on Jekyll, Tybee, and St. Simons islands. This year’s theme focused on encouraging the public to reduce sea turtle hatchling mortality by filling in holes dug on beaches and flatting sand castles. Staff also had live wildlife including horseshoe crabs, and sand dollars so the public could learn the difference.

CRD aids shrimpers in facing economic challenges

Dawn Franco and Julie Califf from CRD’s Fishery Dependent Statistics Unit partnered with the Georgia Commercial Fishermen’s Association and UGA Marine Extension to hold workshops aiding Georgia shrimpers with complicated International Trade Commission questionnaires. The first workshop was on July 9 in Thunderbolt. The ITC is collecting data to support countervailing duty and antidumping investigations of shrimp from Ecuador, India, Vietnam, and Indonesia. This data will help determine if duties will be imposed on these countries. Georgia’s shrimp industry faces economic challenges due to low dockside prices from cheap imports, dropping from $12.00/pound in the late 1980s (adjusted for inflation) to $3.61/pound in 2023.

Church group helps built novel oyster recruitment tools

Youth group volunteers from Canaan United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., built experimental oyster modules July 18 at Coastal Regional Headquarters, as part of their mission trip to Epworth-by-the-Sea UMC Conference Center on St. Simons Island. The oyster modules will be tested as potential oyster recruitment habitat in estuaries. The modules were made out of wire mesh that was folded and clipped together to restrain the oyster shell. The volunteer event was organized by CRD Marine Biologist Cameron Brinton.  

Biologists, staff collect carcasses from red snapper miniseason

Along the South Atlantic coast, recreational anglers were allowed to harvest one Red Snapper per person on July 12. CRD staff visited three locations that day to collect biological samples and there were 15 freezer locations along the coast where anglers could donate their carcasses. The tally for total number of donated red snapper carcasses is still in progress. The commercial season opened July 8 and closed Aug. 6 when the quota was met.

Invasive blue land crab spotted in Brunswick

Several reports of invasive blue land crabs were reported on the coast in August, likely due to high levels of rainfall regionally. Reports came from Glynn and Chatham counties, with one person bringing a specimen to the Coastal Regional Office. CRD worked with WRD to educate the public about why blue land crabs are considered invasive and how they can be destroyed. The crabs, which look like fiddlers but much larger, are native to Brazil to South Florida and are known to cause extensive property damage due to the capacity for burrowing. They can grow as large as 5 to 6 inches. 

Kids Fishing Event reels in the fun

CRD hosted its annual Golden Isles Kids Fishing Event in Brunswick on June 1. The free event, held at the Sidney Lanier pier, was attended by 77 young people and 57 adults. Each student received basic fishing instructions including knot tying, casting, and tackle configurations, and was about to fish from the pier for about three hours. Lunch was also provided.

SAFMC holds Mackerel Port Meetings

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council hosted a King and Spanish Mackerel Port Meeting at the Sapelo Saltwater Fishing Club.  Unlike public hearings which specifically address an upcoming potential regulatory change, the Council designed these meetings to afford fishermen the opportunity to discuss their perspectives and specifically address how the fisheries may be changing over time and in response to changing environmental conditions.  Participants commented on increased tournament fishing in Florida in terms of more tournaments with more vessels, as well as new tournaments in waters closer to shore and increased commercial fishing pressure.  Conversely, Georgia fishermen are having to go farther offshore than in the past to fish for king mackerel, and Spanish mackerel are no longer commonly seen.

New faces at CRD: Three hired full time

CRD has welcomed three new full-time staff in recent months. 

Brittany Hall came on board as a marine biologist working with the Ecological Monitoring Trawl Survey in July. She is a graduate of College of Coastal Georgia and previously worked on CRD’s Coastal Longline Survey in 2019.

Megan Graham joined CRD on Aug 16 as an administrative assistant in the Admin Section. She previously worked in finance with an RV dealership in Cleveland, Ga. She has played bagpipes for almost three years and has a 13 year old cat named Lewellyn. 

Eric Stamm also joined CRD on Aug. 16. He holds a Bachelor’s in Wildlife and Fisheries from Clemson University and will be working as a marine technician with CRD’s Beach Water Quality program. He previously worked as a a fisheries tech with Clemson. 

— STAFF REPORTS