Beaufort and Morehead City, North Carolina August 24, 2015- Joel Fodrie, assistant professor of Marine Biology at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, conducts field research from a twenty two foot skiff with his team of marine biologists in salt water estuaries near the Beaufort Inland. The team checked the progress of rebuilt oyster reef habitat in Middle Marsh and at the mouth of North River marsh. Fodrie’s team also set out nets trolling for juvenile fish samples measuring fish populations in Middle Marsh. Joel Fodrie considers himself a “decent” flounder fishermen, and this is why it’s one of his favorite water pastimes. It’s a nighttime thing, in shallow water, the boat rigged with lights. He likes to turn on those lights and get a rare chance to see the fish move. Just south of the Harker’s Island on the North River, Fodrie stands at the ready, twelve foot gig in hand, on the bow of a restored skiff he has owned since he was fourteen years old. Photography by Steve Exum exumphoto.com.
