fish industry, which depends primarily on the Atlantic 

 croaicer, is just beginning to develop in the Chenier 

 Plain (fig. 3-29). Since 1953 the harvest in the near- 

 shore Gulf has increased from 14 to 43 million kg (31 

 to 95 miUion lb) (Gutherz et al. 1975). 



Nutria and Muskrat. As indicated in part 3.2.4, 

 muskrat and nutria harvests have been dechning in 

 the Chenier Plain since 1971 in spite of sustained har- 

 vests in the southeastern part of the State (fig. 3-9) 

 and in spite of increased Ucense sales (part 3.2.4). 

 Reasons for the declining harvests in the Chenier Plain 

 are not obvious. Habitat area loss is occurring at a 

 much slower rate than harvest decline. There is some 

 evidence for competition between nutria and muskrat 

 where their habitats overlap, but long-term trends of 

 muskrat production are difficult to assess because of 

 extreme variability. The most conservative assump- 

 tion is that production cannot be expected to increase 

 because the resource is fuUy exploited and that care- 

 ful management is required to maintain present levels 

 of production. 



Sportfishing and Hunting Potential. The sporttlsh- 

 ing potential on the Chenier Plain was evaluated on 

 the basis of available area of aquatic habitat and esti- 

 mated potential yield, using the method described in 

 the Fish and Wildhfe Study (U.S. Army Corps of Engi- 

 neers, unpublished). These estimates are based on the 

 best avaUable information from fishery biologists 

 familiar with the Chenier Plain. The desired sportfish 

 catch is estimated at 4.5 kg (10 lb) of saltwater sport 

 fish and 0.9 kg (2 lb) of freshwater sport fish per man- 



day (table 3.60). The saltwater estimate is somewhat 

 conservative because it does not include the nearshore 

 Gulf. 



Wildlife hunting potential was calculated by esti- 

 mating the area required each year to support various 

 types of hunting for different habitats in the Chenier 

 Plain (table 3.61). The numbers for each species are 

 in terms of man-days of hunting per unit area to al- 

 low comparison with demand figures generated in 

 part 3.2.5. Data are based on estimates from wildlife 

 biologists of productivity and standing stock as well 

 as the sustained harvest potential for each habitat. 

 The estimates indicate that 1 ha (2.47 a) of fresh, in- 

 termediate, or brackish marsh will sustain about two 

 man-days of hunting per year. Saline marshes are less 

 useful for hunting purposes. 



Peak populations of waterfowl reach 3.8 million 

 and the estimated annual harvest is 561,013 (table 

 3.62). 



The total supply of saltwater fishing and sport- 

 hunting is estimated [app. 6.3 (10)] by multiplying 

 area times man-days of potential use for each habitat. 

 In figure 3-30, this supply is compared to the demand 

 estimated in part 3.2.4. Freshwater sportfishing is ex- 

 cluded from this analysis. Freshwater fishing is avail- 

 able north of the Chenier Plain as well as in the Chenier 

 Plain, so it is difficult to estimate the demand for this 

 type of recreation. In contrast, saltwater fishing is 

 confined to the coast. Similarly, for hunting the sup- 

 ply represented in the figure is generated by waterfowl 

 and other wedand species unavailable outside the 

 Chenier Plain. 



84° 50' 



Figure 3-29. Fishing areas for industrial bottom fish along the northern Gulf coast (Gutherz 1975). 



87 



