An intensive six year survey of the Cape Fear River and adjacent waters (1973-1978) was initiated to determine of the effects of the CP&L (now Duke) Brunswick 1,979 MW nuclear power plant, located four km north of Southport, North Carolina (Brunswick County) on the biota, especially crabs, of the area. Blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1869, are an important North Carolina resource for commercial fisherman and the public. Blue crabs are captured as hard and soft shell crabs using: dip nets, troll lines, baited crab pots, gill nets, pound nets, haul seines and otter trawls, sell for as much as $55/dozen. Would the power plant manmade intake canal flow affect the blue crabs frequenting the Cape Fear River and adjacent waters? Would tagged blue crabs, by sex, stay in the river? What were their environmental conditions: water temperatures, oxygen contents, salinities they endured during the six year surveys?