Upcoming Events

139th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society
"Diversity, the foundation of fisheries and the American Fisheries Society; are we gaining ground?" Aug. 30-Sept. 3, 2009.

Thursday, March 26 from 6:30–9:00 pm

Fishmonger's Restaurant and Oyster Bar, Durham

DukeFish launched its community-supported fishery (CSF) initiative and celebrated local seafood at a private happy hour in the upstairs lounge of Fishmonger's Restaurant and Oyster Bar in Durham. Over 100 attendees enjoyed smoked bluefish, catfish nuggets and philly cheesesteak sandwiches made from skate (a Fishmonger’s specialty). Attendees were invited to fill out a short survey to gather information about consumer preferences and attitudes about a Durham fall CSF share. Hand-printed DukeFish t-shirts were given out to the first 50 people, and a raffle was held for two Fishmonger’s gift certificates and for the first DukeFish CSF share.

Repass Ocean Conservation Center at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort

• February 11, 2009 – Marc Turano, NC Sea Grant
• February 18, 2009 – Jay Styron, Carolina Mariculture Co., Cedar Island, NC
  (Special event hosted at Bistro by the Sea, with farm raised oysters and wine pairings.)
• February 25, 2009 – Dr. Michael Rubino, NOAA Aquaculture Program
• March 4, 2009 – Aaron McNevin and Colin Brannen of the World Wildlife Fund Aquaculture Task Force
• March 18 – Neil Anthony Sims, Kona Blue Water Farms, Hawaii

All lectures were open to the public.

October 21, 2008
Bryant Center, Duke University, Durham

DukeFish made a big splash at Duke University's annual Earth Jam celebration, created to celebrate the environment and promote Duke's Environmental Studies programs. We focused on educating visitors about sustainable seafood and consumer choices that cause the least harm to the environment. Our fishing game was once again a huge hit, especially with the kids who came to visit our booth! The goal of the game is to "fish" for something from the sea of seafood, and then to identify whether the seafood that is "caught" comes from a sustainable source. We also distributed many seafood guides and recruited several new DukeFish members.

October 3–5, 2008

Morehead City Waterfront

Another successful year of Duke Fish at the NC Seafood Festival! DukeFish sold over 200 pounds of locally-caught shrimp through sales of our delicious grilled shrimp and veggie kabobs. All proceeds ($700) were donated to Carteret Catch, a partnership of commercial fishermen, seafood distributors, restaurant owners, fishery researchers, college educators and local citizens that works to sustain the livelihood and heritage of the Carteret County fishing industry. A big thanks goes to all of the volunteers from Duke's Marine Lab who helped us peel shrimp, prep kabobs, and staff the DuekFish booth.

September 20, 2008

Hatteras village waterfront

On the Hatteras waterfront, where commercial fishing boats, charter boats, and fishing gear were displayed, students of the Duke Marine Lab and DukeFish shared ideas with traditional North Carolina fishermen. Besides learning about fishing regulations, boating safety and marine resource conservation, we also enjoyed delicious seafood prepared by professional chefs.

"Fisheries in Flux: How Do We Ensure Our Sustainable Future?"

August 17–21, 2008

Ottawa, Canada

Student Activities at the AFS meeting: There was a full day with student activities during the AFS conference. It started with a Student/Mentor Lunch, where students were given the opportunity to meet and network with mentors from the fishing industry, government and academia. This provided the occasion to discuss our experiences, opportunities, and challenges in fisheries science. Later we heard distinguished speakers on topics related to education and employment at the Student Colloquium. This event was followed by a Career Fair. Finally, the night was capped off with an off-site student social in the Byward market, featuring great live music, snacks and beverages.

April 22, 2008

Duke University, Durham

In recognition of Earth Day, the officers along with a few members took part in Duke's main campus festivities. Our goal for the day was to educate the public about making responsible consumer decisions, to increase our membership, and to have fun. 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.

March 5, 2008

Picatta’s restaurant, Morehead City

DukeFish held a happy hour event at the restaurant Picatta's in Morehead City as our closing event of the 2007–2008 school year. At the happy hour, Duke University Professor Mike Orbach gave a speech titled "The Success of Fisheries Management in the U.S." while attendees had a lovely time dining on scrumptious appetizers prepared by Kelly, head chef and owner of Picatta's.

February 29, 2008

Duke University, Durham

Joseph Gordon from Conserve our Ocean Legacy (COOL) spoke about their campaign to end overfishing by encouraging NMFS to adopt strong fisheries management regulations as they implement the re-authorized Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA) of 2006. His presentation highlighted the impacts of over-fishing with beautiful photographs of marine life and the effects that over-fishing can have on them. It was a powerful presentation that spurred a great discussion afterward.

October 30, 2007

Duke Marine Lab, Beaufort

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!