154 

 J. E. LASATER 

 is an exotic is no more defensible than the argutnent that 

 a pollutant which kills Chinese pheasants, eastern brook 

 trout, cows, or horses is not injurious to the local fauna. 



The argument that oyster larvae are un- 

 acceptable as bioassay animals because of the absence of 

 oysters in some of the areas considered is equally pre- 

 posterous since it assumes that even in the absence of 

 waste discharges oysters could or would not grow and/or re- 

 produce in these areas. In fact, in two of the areas 

 considered, the only recorded oyster setting during the 

 past 20 years and more occurred during 1958 when the major 

 source of pollution was not in operation. 

 It has also been suggested that since oysters produce 

 millions of eggs, the loss of 50 percent, 75 percent or 

 even 95 percent to some careless activity of man is of 

 no great concern. This argument assumes some sort of a 

 surplus which we can throw away. If, in fact, such a 

 surplus existed, the age-old story of oysters and clams 

 filling our bays and estuaries would have long since come 

 true. In reality, the delicate balance of nature is such 

 that virtually all nondoraestic, unprotected species over 

 the long haul survive at a one to one ratio over the life 

 span of an individual and any _^':.-3o in survival at any 

 stage of the life cycle, regardless of how small, ra^y have 



