From Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, the North Carolina Seafood Festival will continue its tradition started in 1987, of feeding and entertaining crowds along Morehead City's waterfront.
What happens to blue crabs when they are landed by North Carolina crabbers? Where are they processed? Where do they go? Jerry Allegood traces the flow of this crustacean — hard, soft and picked.
It's not far-fetched to say that Kristen Lauren Hall knows the dynamic recent history of nearly every meter of Masonboro Island, a barrier island along the coastline in southeast New Hanover County.
Two groups of North Carolina informal educators experienced that excitement firsthand through 10 days of training — one group in 2010, one in 2011 — with the Marine Mammal Institute, participating in face-to-face encounters with belugas and other marine mammals at Atlantic seaboard museums and aquariums.
Islander Susan West, an author, journalist and blogger, coordinates Hatteras Connection, a pioneering community-based, sustainable economic development and environmental stewardship project that includes the youth team's efforts.
Operating statewide as the nonprofit North Carolina Big Sweep since 1989, the effort has tallied more than 300,000 volunteers and collected over 10.3 million pounds of trash.
The following recipes from Mariner's Menu: 30 Years of Fresh Seafood Ideas by Joyce Taylor use finfish and shellfish that are available from North Carolina's waters in September through November. Talk to your local seafood vendors about their freshest offerings.