under the sun
A mm* INSIDE THIS SECTION:
THE BRUNSWICK#* ACON Q a Qub News, Page 6
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER ,5. ,994 g Q^jfy fa// J Q
When It
Comes
To fishing,
Mr. Daught
Knows
His Stuff
*\l 1 /
j uj jjy
BY DOUG R UTTER
D aught Tripp sits just inside
the opened front door of a
cozy building perched almost
too close to the water's edge at the
end of a narrow and bumpy dirt dri
veway.
In his right hand is a flyswattcr
That leaves his left hand free to pet a
friendly, or own chihuahua named
little Bit who seems permanently
affixed to her master's lap.
For the last 4<) years anglers have
launched their boats and bought
their bait at Tripp's Fishing Center,
and made time to chat with the man
who knows as much or more than
anyone about fishing the waters off
Shallotte Point
Tripp is an institution in this com
munity At age 81, he has acquired
enough knowledge on local Fishing
to fill a bookcase And he's always
willing to pass along what he
knows
"He's taught a lot of people dif
ferent stuff on how to shrimp, on
how to set gill nets, on how to catch
fish," says Shallotte Point resident
Mike Potts
"He'll tell you about the weather
He'll look out there and tell you if
it's gonna rain or not )ust on how the
clouds are coming in Nine times out
of 10 he'? right."
Tripp's gift for weather forecast
ing and his fishing know-how come
from six dccades in the fishing busi
ness.
"I imagine I've given a lot of in
struction on how to fish," he says
modestly "A lot of people come
down and don't even know how to
bait a hook."
Biil Tripp says his uncle has
something to teach everyone. "He
knows his fishing He's been doing
it a long time. He knows what goes
on in that river "
Bom and raised in Shallotte,
Daught Tripp has worked on fishing
boats ever since he completed the
eighth grade at Shallotte School.
Arthritis has slowed him down
lately, but he still fishes for shrimp,
spot, croaker, trout, flounder.
"Anything that's in season," he says.
Tripp, a thin man with glowing
blue eyes, has called Shallotte Point
home for the past 49 years.
"I've been running this marina
down here since '52," he explains.
"I first started a restaurant. I dug this
little ditch in here and started this
marina in '54."
It wasn't long after the marina
opened that Tripp experienced whs*
he says was the scariest moment of
his life.
Hurricane Hazel "cleaned out
r
DAUGHT TRIPP has operated a marina at Shallotte Point for the last 40 years.
everything" al the marina and de
stroyed a nearby restaurant also
owned by Tripp
"That was about as frightened as
I've ever been," he said. "I moved
up the hill I had an old '41 Ford au
tomobile at the time. 1 took off for
Supply. 1 had water in the seat up to
my waist. I made it all the way to
Supply. That old car never cranked
again."
The marina building, which was
much smaller at that time, was
ripped apart down to the foundation.
Tripp said his cafe was washed into
the edge of a branch.
"At that time I had a bunch of
rental boats down here, skiffs. I had
22 of them and I ain't seen a one of
them since. They busted all to
pieces'*
Tripp says one thing that hasn't
been "busted all to pieces" is fish
ing. Despite state and federal reports
to the contrary, he sees no evidence
of a decline in certain species.
"The fishing changes every year.
One year you have good fishing, the
next is sorry. It runs in cycles. It
comes and goes. About every seven
years you have a real good season, a
whole lot better than the others,"
Tripp says.
"This year has been the best
flounder season we've had in 10
years and that's the way it goes.
Spots the last two seasons have been
fair but not really up to par."
Tripp says there has been a de
cline in local oysters, but he thinks
there's a simple solution to that
problem.
"We have a decline in our shell
fish, our oysters, and the clammers
are the cause of that. They go out on
the rocks with their rakes," Tripp
said.
"It's like going out and planting
tobacco and then going out there
with a rake. You're not going to
have any tobacco," he said. "The
oysters would take care of itself if
they would make a law against
clammers on oyster rocks."
Tripp, who has been married to
Lottie Tripp for 55 years, said the
biggest change in the commercial
fishing industry since he started
working in the 1930s is the value of
the catch.
He used to earn 75 cents per
bushel of shrimp, and 10 cents for
each pound of whiting and flounder.
Those same finfish today are worth
about $2.75 per pound.
Joyce Land has worked for Tripp
for the past 32 years. She recalls the
time her boss caught a 15 -pound, 2
ounce, flounder where the marina
cove enters the waterway.
"He broke my rod all to pieces
catching that fish," Land said. "Then
he come back in here and wore that
fish's tail off dragging it around
showing it to people."
Tripp smiles. "There's been more
flounder caught right out there this
year than anywhere else in the river.
There's a couple of deep holes and
them flounder lay right down on the
bottom."
Saturday's Sweep
Needs Volunteers
It's one of the easiest good deeds you can do. It takes no special talent.
You do it in beautiful surroundings. And it's beneficial to residents, visitors,
wildlife and the land.
It's Big Sweep, the annual beach clean-up set to get under way at 8:30
a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 17, in eight of Brunswick County's waterfront
towns. Volunteers are reminded to wear gloves.
Here are the meeting places and contact persons for each town:
? Sunset Beach, Main Street and Sunset Boulevard, Clete Waldmillcr
? Occan Isle Beach, Museum of Coastal Carolina, Dale Powell
? Holden Beach, under Holden Beach Bridge, Pat Sandifer
? Long Beach, Recreation Center, Arch Wilson
? Yaupon Beach, Old Captain's Hut Restaurant, Jackie Slockett
? Caswell Beach, Town Hall, Bill Boyd
? Southport, Waterfront Park, Kathy Scheetz, Junior Women's Club
? Bald Head Island, River Pilot Cafe, Martha Hayworth
Volunteers are still needed, said Kris Kime, interim special projects co
ordinator for the Brunswick County Parks and Recreation Department She
can be reached at 253-4357 or 1-800-222-4790.
Pat Sandifer and Martha Spivey, co-chairs for the Beach Sweep efforts
of the Holden Beach Beautification Committee, have put out an urgent plea
for volunteers.
"Coordinators know that a four-hour clean-up once a year is not enough
to stop all the problems," Sandifer said. "That's why we focus our attention
on education and public awareness year-round."
Sandifer said she hopes the program, which has been very successful as
an annual statewide project, will receive the same level of positive commu
nity support on Holden Beach four or five times each year.
Last year almost 12,000 volunteers collected more than 230 tons of
trash from Tar Heel waters. In many cases, what they picked up was left be
hind by recreational users ? fishermen, boaters, swimmers and sunbathers.
But debris also comes from *uc citics snd towns that line n vers and pcicti
beside lakeshores.
On the beach, common litter ? like plastic zipper bags and six-pack
rings ? can be lethal when it is ingested by or snagged on fish, sea turtles
and marine mammals. Fish hooks, glass and aluminum beverage cans left
behind can be perilous for swimmers and strollers.
Drop a candy wrapper or a foam cup on the street and, chances are, it
will eventually wash into the nearest storm drain. From there, it's a quick
trip to a nearby creek, river or stream where debris becomes part of the
larger problem of aquatic litter.
This year Big Sweep is also supporting the statewide N.C. Storm Drain
Stenciling Project organized by Barbara Doll, water quality specialist with
the N.C. Sea Grant Program.
Doll is encouraging groups of volunteers to stencil city storm drains in
the state's coastal watershed with a "KEEP CLEAN" message that alerts
passers-by that only rainwater belongs in the drains.
Last week. Gov. Jim Hunt joined a group of Wilmington children in
painting storm drains with the message "KEEP CLEAN: FLOWS INTO
CAPE FEAR RIVER." So far 35 cities and towns, plus the Cherry Point
Marine Air Station, have agreed to work with volunteers to stencil storm
drains and catch basins.
First Citizens Bank is the title sponsor of the Big Sweep cleanup. Other
sponsors include R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Duke Power, Glaxo
Pharmaceuticals, IBM, Pepsi and Waste Industries. N.C. Big Sweep is led
by a board of directors representing businesses, industries, universities,
governmental agencies and the N.C. Waterman's Association.
Master Waste Managers
To Be Trained This Fall
About 20 Brunswick Countians
who are concerned about the envi
ronment will be talking trash this
fall in an effort to become Master
Waste Managers.
The Master Waste Manager Pro
gram, "Sorting It Out Together,"
will be a training and volunteer pro
gram developed by the N.C. Coop
erative Extension Service and will
be offered by Brunswick County's
Recycling Program and Cooperative
Extension Service on seven consec
utive Monday evenings from Oct.
10 until Nov. 28.
"A main object of the program is
to provide participants with in-depth
education on solid waste ? how we
currently manage our trash in
Brunswick County and what man
agement options we have besides
landfill disposal," said Heather
Sandner, county recycling coordina
tor. Sessions will cover such topics
as recycling, waste reduction, house
hold hazardous waste, and compost
ing. Two weekend tours are planned
to the county landfill and to a recy
cling facility in Wilmington.
"Another object is to have partici
pants reach out to others in the com
munity and share their knowledge,"
Sandner said. In exchange for the
training, certified Master Waste
Managers will pledge to volunteer
25 hours of community service over
the next year in a concept similar to
the Master Gardener Program the
extension service officers.
Volunteers in other counties have
used their training to design educa
tional displays, give presentations to
civic groups, work with school chil
dren and assist with waste reduction
and recycling projects, Sandner said.
More than 600 volunteers have been
trained in 30 counties statewide.
Those interested in registering
should contact Sandner at 253-4488,
workdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30
p.m. The training is free, but there is
a $20 charge per participant for
manuals and other materials. Regis
tration forms and payment must be
received by Sept. 30. Class size will
be limited to 20.
Life In The Sea Foam
They are breathtakingly beautiful under a mi
croscope. One German scientist spent 15 years
mounting more than 4,000 species on a slide the
size of a postage stamp. Diatoms were discovered
in 1702 and at first were thought to be animals
until it was determined they perform photosynthe
sis. The food reserves produced through photo
synthesis are stored within their cells as oil.
Ancient diatoms died and were buried beneath the
sea by the billions to form oil reserves in many
parts of the world.
Also in the foam are the animal plankton which
feed on the diatoms and form an important part of
the food for the bivalve mollusk species and the
sea worms.
Sometimes it is hard to realize what is happen
ing all around us as we walk along the ocean
beach. Few of us would have reason to even think
of diatoms, but what we do see is there because
the diatoms are there!
Let us hope those tiny plants continue to work
so that Kahlil Gibran is right when he reminds us,
/ am forever walking upon these shores,
Betwixt the sand and the foam.
The high tide will erase my footprints,
And the wind will blow away the foam.
But the sea and the shore will remain
Forever.
BY BILL FAVER
Sometimes on a windy day sea foam can be
seen skimming across the wet sand on the beach
? or quivering in the
wind before it breaks
apart. It is difficult
for us to realize that
caught up in that
foam may be mil
lions of minute
plants and animals
just like those in the
sand under our feet
or in the water at our
side.
Most important of
these are the di
atoms ? microscopic
plants that form the
basis of the marine
FAVER liter of seawater may
contain as many as ten cillion of them. There are
about 25,000 species of diatoms, and they resem
ble stars, spirals, pinwheels, and many other
shapes.
FOAM ALONG THE BEACH strand may be filled with minute life forms.