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R e s e a rch, Education, Outre a c h Volume 18, Number 1

SPOTLIGHT ON CULTURE Chanteys An African American Maritime Legacy

BY HAROLD ANDERSON

n the Northern Neck region of Vir ginia, a peninsula lying between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, a group of men in their 70s and 80s L:*Won’t you help me to raise ’em boys O have been keeping alive an uncommon legacy of African American C: Hey, hey, honey worksongs sung on the water. As young men, they worked aboard fishing boats wh e r e they pulled up by hand nets teeming with menhaden from the waters of L: Won’t you help me to raise ’em boys the Chesapeake and Atlantic. From long rowboats, as many as 40 men hauled C: Hey, hey honey in a “purse seine,” a net filled with thousands of pounds of fish. To accomplish L: Won’t you help me to raise ’em boys this back-breaking feat, they sang what were called “chanteys” to coordinate C: See you when the sun goes down their movements. These fishermen’s worksongs could have been heard on boats out of Vir ginia and North Carolina wherever they pursued the great mi- grating schools of menhaden along the Atlantic coast, from New Jersey to the L: Oh the weight’s on the captain’s boat Gulf of Mexico. C: Hey, hey, honey In 1991, William Hudnall organized the Northern Neck Chantey Singers at L: Oh the weight’s on the captain’s boat the request of the Greater Reedville Association and the Association’s Museum Committee — there were two groups of menhaden chantey singers perfo rm i n g C: Hey, hey, honey in North Carolina and the Association hoped to find some singers in Vir ginia for L: Oh the weight’s on the captain’s boat a special July 4th program. Interest in the group has been so great that they’ve C: See you when the sun goes down been perfo r ming ever since. The singers are ret i r ed African American waterme n fr om Northumberland County who worked in the menhaden over a 50- year period beginning in the 1930s, for the oldest of them, and into the 1980s * “L” is sung by the leader; for some of the younger men. All of them worked on the water during the time “C” is sung by the crew. when chanteys were sung.

A Sea Grant Publication Chanteys, continued

Chanteys, and worksongs in gen- eral, occupy a special place in African American culture — they are songs that have a function: to make work go better. In the case of the men- haden fishermen, the songs rhy t h m i - cally coordinated the efforts of haul- ing in the nets to bring fish to the su r face where they could then be tr a n s f e r r ed to the holds of the “moth- er” ship. But this simple explanation doesn’t account for the almost inex- plicable quality that the men attribute to the chantey’s effect on their ability to raise an otherwise intractable load. “The harmony brings everybody The Northern Neck Chantey Singers harmonize in William Hudnall’s backyard. From left together on the same chord at the to right are William Hudnall, Edward Taylor, Lloyd Warner, E.B. Chewning, James same time, and that’s what made the Carter, Selby Basker, Ellsworth Landon and Calvin Hill. Members of the group not pic - work easier,” says Hudnall. On the tured are James Cain, William Carter, Eddie Clark, Josh Curry, Richard Tarleton and gr oup’s audiotape, “See You When Captain Charles Winstead. the Sun Goes Down,” Hudnall de- scribes the effect of the chanteys: te r est by folklorists led to their red i s - “Y ou’d be pulling as hard as you pos- covery as a valuable part of maritime L: Oh sibly could pull. And I mean you’d be and musical history. C: My lordy, ain’t no money straining. And you couldn’t get them The Northern Neck has always [fish] to come up at all. Somebody hit been somewhat isolated — separated makin’ country that chantey, and started to get into by water and with no access by rail- L: Oh Chesapeake Bay it. And after awhile you see, here it road, it was traditionally served by C: My lordy, ain’t no money starts coming up. Inch by inch. Inch boats and, in modern times, by makin’ country by inch. After awhile they’d start trucks. The economy in the area de- showing. That’s where you’d see all veloped around the L: How do you know? this foam start dripping. You hadn’t — , and especially the C: Oh lordy, how do you know? killed them and they hadn’t killed menhaden fishery. The small town of L: By self experience you. But it was fifty-fifty — you were Reedville, located on the Grea t C: Oh lordy, by self experience nearly dead and so were they.” Haul- Wicomico River at the top of the ing up a light set might not req u i r e a No r t h e r n Neck near the Bay, was chantey, but hauling up a heavy one once known as the menhaden capital menhaden processing plant between could take as much as an hour or of the world. At the turn of the centu- North Carolina and Maine, and is still two of concerted pulling, and success ry the town’s populace had the high- the major port for landings on the At- depended on the rhythms of the est per capita wealth in the United la n t i c . music. States. Between 1873 and 1877 fisher- In a chantey, says Hudnall, “the men in the U.S. harvested 1.7 billion Origins of the Chanteys person calling comes a little before pounds of menhaden. While the The chantey has roots in some of the the others. They are following the catch has declined, the fishery re- earliest African customs brought and le a d e r . They reach when he rea c h e s mains significant. According to the nu r t u r ed by slave populations in the — they all reach together, some National Institute, approx i - United States and the Americas. In ahead, some behind. But they all pull mately 40% of annual U.S. Atlantic Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands to g e t h e r .” He likens the call to telling coast commercial landings by weight Lydia Parrish writes of worksongs a horse “git up.” When someone says ar e . Landings for called “shanties or chanteys” sung by “hey,” he knows he’s got to pull. In bait by other fisheries (pound net and African Americans working on planta- the late 1950s, the introduction of the purse seine) account for about 5% of tions near a navigable river, and also hydraulic power block for hoisting total Atlantic catch. In 1997, 657 mil- reports of these being heard in Geor- menhaden nets made the work easier, lion pounds of Atlantic menhaden gia as early as the 1880s. Parrish but signaled the demise of the tradi- we r e caught at a value of $40.1 mil- notes that the chanteys tended to die tion of chantey singing. The songs lion. Reedville remains home to out as the work that demanded them we r e ignored for thirty years until in- Omega Protein, the last rem a i n i n g dwindled. Exactly when chanteys

2 • MARYLAND MARINE NOTES we r e first used for helping men lift known, “sea chanteys” that flourished nets in the menhaden fishery is un- among the crews of 19th century known, though it is likely that the American and British transatlantic practice began when purse seine sailing ships. technology, developed in the north- Chantey singing among menhaden er n states, came to be used in the fi s h e r men, which became widesprea d so u t h e r n states of Vir ginia and North ar ound 1920, rep r esents an adapta- and South Carolina, where African tion of worksongs by African Ameri- American crews and labor were com- cans in various mainland occupations mon at the end of the 19th century. during the late 19th century — lum- The liner notes of the audiotape Reedville bering and mining and building of Northern Neck Chantey Singers, roads, railroads, levees and sailboats. pr oduced by the Vir ginia Folklife Says William Hudnall, “Years ago Pr ogram, provides an excellent histo- they used to work on sailboats and ry of chantey singing by black men- of production: Reedville, Vir ginia and [they would sing as they] caulked. haden fishermen. They tell of a tradi- Beaufort, North Carolina. Such They had a story about a big sail- tion that was little known, prob a b l y chanteys were uncommon in Ameri- boat where they had men lined up, because chanteys were sung only at can commercial fisheries, and men- singing and hammering away. sea by men working in a specialized haden chanteys are for the most part The [big boss] went up and com- fishing industry with only two centers un r elated to traditional, and better plained to the foreman about the Catching Menhaden with a Purse Seine This description of the process of catching menhaden early in the 20th century when the chanteys were still in use is drawn from The Men All Singing: The Story of Menhaden Fishing by John Frye.

rom the crowsnest of the fishboat — perhaps an older pleted circle, and the biggest and strongest man drop p e d Fwooden ship, 120 feet long, bought from the military af- the heavy “tom” overboard, a weight with two ropes at- ter World War I and converted from steam to diesel — the tached, closing the bottom of the net to form a “purse.” captain, mate and striker searched the horizon for “whips,” Then the work began. The boats were cleared of oars, tell-tale ripples made by a school of menhaden swimming attached by lanyards to prevent them from drifting away, near the surface. With the cry from the crowsnest “Fish! Get and the buntpullers began pulling up the fathoms of loose ready below boys!” the mate and striker rushed down the net until the fish were bunched together. Finally the large ratlines, the mate to lower the purse boats, the striker to set boat came alongside the two purse boats and the heavy la- out in his drive boat. They lowered the port and starboard bor of raising the fish began. At first the net came up yard purse boats down from the davits into the water and six- by yard, then it became taut, the work harder and harder. teen to twenty men jumped into each boat, manning the With light sets of ten, twenty or fifty thousand fish, there five heavy sixteen-foot oars. The captain stayed aloft, we r e would be no singing. The men could “harden” the watching the fish and watching the striker. net with little exertion and sometimes little interest since a Once the striker located the school of fish, the captain light set meant little money to take home. rushed to board the starboard purse boat and the two boats But when a heavy set came, two hundred thousand fish cast off, lashed together with a coupling line. The mate’s or more, “inspiration,” says Frye, “came to the chanteyman. boat and the captain’s boat then pushed apart and row e d The drama and sweetness of the verses were heightened toward the striker, who directed them as he watched the by the preceding and between-verse noisy, obscene chat- school, sometimes herding the fish by striking the water te r . They scolded each other for not pulling their weight or with his oar. As they rowed, they paid out the long straight cr owding.” Using the chanteys and every ounce of their net, or purse seine, over the stern while the men row e d st r ength, the men pulled the fish to the surface, where dip- and the captain or mate steered with oar or tiller. If every- nets scooped them into the hold of the mother ship to be one had done their job, the fish were herded into the com- transported back to port and sold.

Purse boats play out the net as they surround The “tom” is dropped The bottom of the net is closed and the crew a school of menhaden. to anchor the net. begins pulling the catch to the surface, where it will be transferred to the “mother” ship.

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 1 • 3 A History of Menhaden Fishing BY HAROLD ANDERSON

he Atlantic menhaden, Br evoortia tyrannus — also tr a d i t i o n Tknown as , bunker, pogy or fat back, and po s s i b l e called Munnawhateaug by native Americans — is a small and neces- fish growing to little more than a foot in length and con- sary. si d e r ed inedible by most people because of its strong oily Use of purse sein- fl a v o r . It feeds on , forming a vital part of the ing to harvest menhaden contin- as prey for larger fish. Menhaden has re- ues today, but since the development in the 1950s of the mained a valuable commodity in Vir ginia, North Carol i n a hydraulic power block for pulling up the net, there has and the Gulf since the 1870s. been no need for either chantey singing or large crew s . The modern menhaden industry emerged in New Eng- Other mid-century refinements included making lighter, land early in the 19th century, after the species was rec - faster and more maneuverable aluminum rather than ognized as a valuable alternative to whale oil, for lubri- wooden purse boats with motors instead of oars; more cants, as fuel for lamps and in the making of soap and durable nylon seines instead of natural fiber nets; and large paint. Factories for rendering menhaden were first built fish pumps, which eliminated the difficult work of transfer- on the shores of Massachusetts, Maine, New York and ring the catch from the net into the hold. In addition, spot- Connecticut. By the beginning of the 20th century men- ter planes took over the work of sighting schools of men- haden served as a component of and haden, radioing locations to captains on board ship. Wit h feed, and in the manufacture of paints and other sub- these changes, harvesting efficiency increased dramatically. stances such as fingernail polish and perfume. In more In recent years the menhaden fishery has suffe r ed a de- recent times, it has also been used as a cooking oil and cline, due primarily to international market conditions af- an ingredient in processed foods such as cookies and fecting the price of menhaden products. The number of ca k e s . pr ocessing plants on the Atlantic Coast has declined from According to John Frye, early New Englanders caught eight in 1981 to only two at the close of the 20th century. menhaden in weirs, in haul seines worked from the Still, according to Richard C. Collins of the Institute for En- sh o r e, or in gill nets worked from canoes and small ships. vi r onmental Negotiation at the University of Vir ginia, the The first use of the purse seine to catch menhaden in Atlantic Coast menhaden harvest is the largest single- 1845, by Rhode Islanders who had invented it 20 years species fishery on the Atlantic Coast and is also the most ea r l i e r , he says, was the single greatest advance in the in- concentrated fishery in the Chesapeake Bay. Over seventy dustry. The purse seine was not widely used until the pe r cent of Atlantic menhaden is still processed in 1870s, however, when it led to the development of the Reedville, and the industry remains a significant part of the purse boat, one of several technical improvements that region’s economy. made the eventual emergence of a menhaden chantey

“A silent slave is not liked by the Chanteys, continued masters.” Worksongs allowed black L: Oh, Mama Liza workers to gain a measure of control men down there singing, and [the C: Mama Liza Jane over the work — to turn it into a fo r eman] said ‘do you want me to L: I got a girl in Baltimore fo r m of expression and to control the make them stop?’ He said ‘yeah’ and C: Mama Liza Jane pace of the work itself. then they didn’t know how to work! L: When she go walking down They sang chanteys and that’s what The Chanteymen made the work go!” the stree t African American watermen, like their African American worksongs go C: Mama Liza Jane white counterparts throughout the back to a West African tradition that L: All the little birdies go Chesapeake region, have always been combines the call and response form, tweet, tweet, tweet se l f - r eliant and independent. Making the improvisatory nature of the C: Mama Liza Jane their livelihoods on the bounty of the words, and the functional relation of Bay was one of the most prof i t a b l e the songs to the lives of the singers. occupations for those on the North- By bringing together the combined er n Neck in the first half of the centu- ef forts of men laboring at a common accomplished more work if they were ry, particularly for young men. The task, the worksong actually improv e d allowed to sing has been documented work was mostly seasonal — the the workers’ efficiency and made it since the time of slavery so overseers menhaden season usually ran from possible for them to do things they not only encouraged slaves to sing, May until October, occasionally in a could not do with uncoordinated in- but often tolerated critical or satirical wa r m year stretching until Thanksgiv- dividual effort. The fact that laborer s lyrics. As Frederick Douglass wrot e , ing, or even later as the larger boats

4 • MARYLAND MARINE NOTES To Hear a Menhaden Chantey A sample of menhaden chantey singing by the Northern Neck Chantey Singers, who allowed us to record two songs during a practice session, is included with the web version of this newsletter at: www.mdsg.umd.edu/ MDSG/MarineNotes/JanFeb00/index.html/. “See You When the Sun Goes Down,” a commercial audiotape by the No r t h e r n Neck Chantey Singers with songs and interviews of the men talk- ing about how the chanteys worked is available from the Reedville Fisher- men’s Museum. The recording was produced by the Vir ginia Folklife Pro- gram for the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum and made possible by a grant fr om the Folk Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support provided by the Greater Reedville Association and the “The menhaden industry was not the only one that sang chanteys,” says Vir ginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy. To order a copy William Hudnall, manager of the North - of the tape, which sells for $12.00, contact the Reedville Fishermen’s Muse- ern Neck Chantey singers. “They [sang um, 504 Main Street, Reedville, Vir ginia 22539, telephone: (804) 453-6529, working on] railroads and chain gangs.” e-mail: bunker@cros s l i n k . n e t . ranged farther down the coast hunt- Hudnall, “We used to have a prob l e m ing enormous schools of fish. When sometime with some of the captains nets were hauled by hand, the crew s — when it got close to the end of the L: Everywhere I . . . we r e primarily African American, season, they got hard to get along C: I look this morni n g while the captain and the mates were with because they wanted you to quit L: Oh, a sign of rain mostly white. Crew work on a men- and they could put that $5 [a month] C: My lordy, lord, lord, sign of rain haden boat during those times was in their pocket!” Though there were L: Oh, Captain don’t you know grueling. “The work req u i r ed brawn,” no labor unions to improve condi- says Hudnall, “you had to pull that tions, one rule was sacrosanct: the C: My lordy, all your crew is net.” Those who did it were mostly captain would never fire a crew going to leave you young men in their teens and twen- member at sea and the crew would L: Oh, next pay day ties. never quit. “You’d never quit at sea, C: My lordy, lord, lord, next pay day Early on the crews had to shovel because on the water you depended up to a ton of coal onto steam-driven on each other. You’d never jeopardize vessels at quayside before heading [each other’s] safety — that was a L: Oh, the captain’s got a new girl out to sea to row purse boats and code we wouldn’t violate. Soon as C: My lordy, new girl, new girl haul heavy nets. The vessels lacked you got on the dock you might take L: Oh, the captain’s got a new girl the most rudimentary amenities, like a brick and hit him in the head,” he C: And the mate’s got his eyes on her toilets or water for washing or ref r i g - jokes, “but you wouldn’t do it on the erated holds, and the men were wa t e r .” sometimes at sea for days and weeks. Work on the menhaden boats af- pr ovisation of new songs that enabled The smell of menhaden, soaked in forded financial independence to the singers to express their day-to-day ammonia as a preservative, along young black men. At the same time, thoughts and concerns . with the latrines on board, were hard they suffe r ed from harsh and some- Cr ews sang of work and home- to take. Now, in contrast to the early times abusive working conditions and sickness, relationships and the days of menhaden fishing, Hudnall fr om separation from loved ones. In women left behind. They rep e a t e d says, “Everything is nice, just like a keeping with the tradition of field the lyrics from familiar blues songs floating hotel. You may get a little hollers, worksongs and the blues, and, just as in blues, no subject was smell from the fish sometimes, but chanteys gave the crew freedom of out of bounds. Beyond earshot of they freeze them right on the boat.” ex p r ession — the songs expr essed all anything but fish and birds, the young The crew had to deal with a sys- manner of thoughts and ideas from men sang songs of whatever came to tem that was sometimes abusive. loss to lust to criticism of captains. In mind without regard for any sense of Captains would at times hold back general they depicted the circu m - what might be fitting or seemly on some of each man’s pay — in the stances and concerns of the singers. land. “They were just as wild and early days when the pay was $25 a The lyrics of various songs formed a rough as anything you’ve seen in your month, they might hold back $5 a vocabulary — lyrics and verses from life,” says Hudnall. “That was the first month to be paid at the end of the di ff e r ent songs, including blues and pr oblem we had when we formed the fishing season to ensure that the crew even gospel at times, were inter- gr oup — we cleaned [the songs up] would stay for the duration. Says changeable and formed a pool for im- cause all this language is diffe re n t .

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 1 • 5 Summer Intern For More Information • Mo r e about the Northern Neck Chantey Singers and the project that supported Positions the production of their audiotape is on the web at minerva.acc.virgi n i a . The Otter Point Cree k edu/~foundhum/vfp/chanteys.html. Alliance and the • In f o r mation about the chantey singers in Beaufort, North Carolina, is on the Chesapeake Bay Na- web at www.ncarts.org/ n c f h a / m e n h a _ f a . h t m l . tional Estuarine Re- se a r ch Reserve in •Vir ginia Marine Resources Bulletin, Spring 1994, Volume 26, Number 1. A con- Maryland (Chesapeake cise overview of menhaden, including life history, catching and processing fish Bay Reserve) are planning to co- and chantey singing. Available from the Vir ginia Sea Grant Program, Sea Grant sponsor one or two undergraduate or Communications, Vir ginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virg i n i a 23062, phone (804) 684-7164. A pdf copy may be downloaded from the Ma r y - graduate students to conduct a sum- land Marine Notes website, www.mdsg.umd.edu/ MDSG/MarineNotes/Jan-Feb00 mer 2000 res e a r ch project within the /index.html/. Otter Point Creek Component of the Chesapeake Bay Reserve. •The Men All Singing: The Story of Menhaden Fishing by John Frye, 242 pp., pro- The Otter Point Creek Component vides a thorough look at menhaden — from the species itself to the history of is one of three in the Chesapeake the fishing and processing industries and the tradition of chantey singing. Bay Reserve. With 672 acres of up- Reprinted in 1999 by the the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum, which sells copies land and riparian forest, tidal fres h - for $19.95. Order by phone, (804) 453-6529, or e-mail, [email protected]. water marshes, streams, creeks, sub- • To find out about booking a perfo r mance by the Northern Neck Chantey me r ged aquatic vegetation and open Singers, contact William Hudnall, Rt. 3, Box 225, Heathsville, Vir ginia 22473. wa t e r , it is part of the Bush River- Winters Run system near Abingdon, Ma r y l a n d . Chanteys, continued feel it is important to document and Particular attention will be given pr eserve this integral part of African to those applicants who plan to study American maritime history. Hudnall What was said wasn’t even fit to say the effects of high sediment or nutri- says they don’t know how long ent loading on the marsh or water, out there on the water.” they’ll be able to continue, but they’ll Sometimes when they perf o rm , the sources of sediment or nutrients, do it as long as they can. They’ve or biogeography of particular plant says Hudnall, people familiar with the pe rf o r med throughout Vir ginia, in old ways ask to hear “Abilena,”’ a or animal species. Maryland, and they’ve had requests to In t e r ns will receive a stipend to- song about a woman of ill repute — sing all over the country. “She was a lady of the night, and the talling $1,500 in three equal install- “These songs rep r esent a very un- ments of $500. Final payment is attributes that she had, when you talk usual if not unique example of work- about that on the water, that wasn’t made upon the receipt of the final songs that developed in the 20th cen- report. In addition, the Chesapeake even fit for the birds to hear!” Still, tury and evolved out of the classic some of the bawdier songs were very Bay Reserve will provide up to $500 worksong tradition,” says ethnomusi- for supplies and/or sample analysis. ef fective when it came to hauling cologist Luvenia A. George, Prog r a m nets, according to Hudnall: “They al- Applicants should submit a short Coordinator for the Smithsonian Divi- pr oposal (less than three single- ways say you’d raise more fish with sion of Cultural History. “Wherev e r ‘Abilena’ than any other chantey.” spaced pages that include an intro- black people worked there was music duction, hypothesis, brief methods, and these chanteys rep r esent the men expected results, potential manage- Rediscovering a Legacy who worked on the seas. The original When Hudnall was approached in ment implications and ref e re n c e s ) , so u r ces of these songs are dying out un o f ficial transcripts, a letter of sup- 1991 about getting together some so it is more important than ever to men to sing chanteys for a special port from a faculty advisor and two pr eserve them.” Hudnall and the sing- letters of recommendation (under pr ogram, he thought it had been too ers will perfo r m in early May at the long to locate any but decided to separate cover) and a one-page re- “Blessing of the Fleet,” in Reedville sume. Applications are due by March give it a try anyway. To his surprise and in July at the Mariner’s Museum he found thirteen former fisherme n 15, 2000. in Newport News, Vir ginia, continu- Send complete applications to: willing to participate. The men in the ing to keep alive that legacy. gr oup, all deacons in their church e s , Ms. Heather Helm, Site Manager, Ot- we r e reluctant at first to sing chanteys ter Point Creek Component, 700 Ot- at all. They finally decided they could Ha r old Anderson is a free l a n c e ter Point Road Abingdon, Maryland do it if they cleaned up the lyrics. As res e a rc h e r , writer, lecturer and 21009. For more information, contact the last of a group of fishermen who musician who specializes in African Heather Helm by phone, (410) 612- participated in chantey singing, they American social history and arts. 1688, or by e-mail, hhelm@erol s . c o m .

6 • MARYLAND MARINE NOTES ication. She has been conducting her field and laboratory work at the Maryland Students Receive Be r muda Biological Station for Re- se a r ch under the supervision of sci- Knauss Fellowships entist Fred Lipschultz. For his fellowship, David O’Brien will work full-time with NOAA’s Na- tional Marine Fisheries Service, in the Of fice of Protected Resources, Endan- ge r ed Species Division, under Divi- sion Chief Wanda Cain. His exact rol e in the division has not been defined yet, but possibilities include working with recovery efforts for sea turtles, Pacific or other listed or peti- tioned species. Kim Benson Ruth Kelty David O’Brien O’Brien completed his B.S. degree in Zoology from the University of im Benson, Ruth Kelty and database includes res e a r ch proj e c t s , Massachusetts in 1990. Since then he David O’Brien, all University personnel, institutions and res u l t i n g has worked in freshwater res e a rc h , K System of Maryland graduate publications and will be available on including two years as an aquacul- students, are Maryland recipients of the program’s website. tu r e extension agent with the Peace Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships for In September, 1998 Benson served Corps in Cameroon. He enrolled in the year 2000. Benson is in the Mas- as an intern at the State Department’s the MEES Program in September 1997 ters program for Sustainable Develop- Of fice of Marine Conservation where and is working with res e a r cher Ed ment and Conservation Biology on she worked on international agree - Houde at the University of Maryland the College Park Campus; Kelty and ments for protection of the sea turtle Center for Environmental Science O’Brien are working on Doctorate and the conservation of commerci a l (UMCES) Chesapeake Biological Lab- and Masters degrees, respectively, in fish species. Benson has focused her oratory to study the causes of rec r u i t - the System-wide Marine-Estuarine-En- recent graduate work on biological ment variability of the bay , vi r onmental Science (MEES) prog r a m . conservation in the marine and the most abundant fish prey species The Fellowship Program, begun in coastal environments with an empha- in the Chesapeake Bay. He hopes to 1979 and coordinated by the National sis on an interdisciplinary and experi- complete his Masters degree this Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- ential approach to res e a r ch, policy su m m e r . tion’s (NOAA) National Sea Grant Of- and management in problem solving. The process for selecting Knauss fice, provides graduate students acros s Ruth Kelty will devote her fellow- Fellows begins with the submission the nation with an opportunity to ship year to working in NOAA’s Na- of applications by candidates rec o m - spend a year working with policy and tional Ocean Service (NOS) in the mended for their excellence by Sea science experts in Washington, DC. Of fice of the Senior Scientist. The Grant Directors across the nation. Kim Benson will spend her fellow- pr ojects she will focus on include de- Fellowships run from February 1 to ship year with NOAA’s National veloping a national eutrop h i c a t i o n January 31 and pay a stipend of Ocean Service, in the Office of pr ogram for NOS and developing a $32,000. Coastal Resource Management’s Ma- strategy for a national coastal moni- The application deadline for next rine Sanctuary Program, where she toring program. She will also contin- year’s Knauss Fellowship Program is will work on management issues in ue to pursue her interest in coral August 31, 2000; however it is useful several sanctuaries around the coun- reefs by helping NOS with the Coral for those interested in applying to try. Benson received her Bachelor of Reef Task Force initiative. She gradu- contact Maryland Sea Grant in early Science degree in Marine Biology ated in 1995 with a Bachelor’s De- spring for guidance and possible vol- fr om the College of Life Sciences at gr ee from Middlebury College with a unteer project opportunities. Student the College Park campus in 1997. joint major in Biology and Environ - must be enrolled in a graduate or For the past two years, she has been mental Studies. She is currently in pr ofessional degree program in a ma- a graduate res e a r ch assistant helping her fifth year of graduate study in the rine related field at an accredited in- with grants proposal management at MEES program where she is working stitution in the United States. the Maryland Sea Grant College. toward a Ph.D. in Marine Biology For more information, or an appli- While there, she conducted a special which she hopes to complete this cation broc h u r e, contact: Susan Leet pr oject in which she analyzed all su m m e r . Her dissertation res e a r ch in- at Maryland Sea Grant by phone, twenty years of the program’s re- vestigates the mechanisms of phos- (301) 405-6375, or e- m a i l , le e t @ m d s g . se a r ch data and created an interactive phorus uptake and utilization by umd.edu. Fellowship information is database for that information and for corals and sea anemones in rel a t i o n also available on the web at www. ongoing and future res e a r ch. The to coral physiology and reef eutrop h - mdsg.umd.edu/NSGO/Knauss.html.

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 1 • 7 End Notes Maryland Marine Notes Volume 18, Number 1 ■ Alien Species Park.For a copy of a thought-pro- January-February 2000 Sy m p o s i u m . voking paper by Sagoff that ques- Jack Greer and tions the underlying conceptual Maryland Marine Notes is published Jonathan Kramer framework of many economic, six times a year by the Maryland Sea Grant College for and about the marine of the Maryland Sea Grant College en v i r onmental and ecological res e a r ch, education and outreach commu- or ganized a symposium on the sci- assumptions, visit the web: www. nity around the state. ence of “invasion biology” at this pu a f . u m d . e d u / I P P P / f a l l 1 9 9 9 / This newsletter is produced and fund- year’s American Association for the exotic_species.htm. For questions ed by the Maryland Sea Grant College Advancement of Science (AAAS) or additional information, contact: Pr ogram, which receives support from the Annual Meeting on February 18 in Sea Grant National Media Relations National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- Washington, DC. Titled “Alien Ben Sherman, (202) 662-7095 or ministration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Gree r Species in Coastal Waters: What are Maryland Sea Grant Communica- and Merrill Leffl e r . Send items for the the Real Ecological and Social tions Jack Greer (301) 405-6377. newsletter to: Costs?” the symposium brought to- Maryland Marine Notes gether a panel to review conceptu- ■ Bay Agreement Draft Online. Maryland Sea Grant College al and scientific issues related to A draft of the new Chesapeake Bay 0112 Skinner Hall the science and to pose questions Ag r eement is currently available for University of Maryland that will need to be answered as public comment through March 31. College Park, Maryland 20742 (301) 405-6376, fax (301) 314-9581 the discipline matures. Panelists To learn more about the Agree - e-mail: [email protected] included res e a r chers Greg Ruiz, ment and to voice your comments, For more information about Maryland Sea Smithsonian Environmental Re- contact the Maryland Tri b u t a r y Grant, visit our web site: se a r ch Center; David Pimentel, Cor- Strategies Program at (410) 260- www.mdsg.umd.edu/MDSG nell University; Jodi Cassell, Cal- 8710. To review the New Bay if o r nia Sea Grant Extension; and Ag r eement online, visit the web at: philosophy professor Mark Sagoff, ww w . c h e s a p e a k e b a y . n e t / c 2 k . h t m . University of Maryland, College

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