564 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



It is not possible to place a monetary value upon 

 some of the effects of pollution, particularly those 

 related to public health and welfare. Losses to 

 the fisher}-, in tourist and resort trade, expendi- 

 tures for maintaining silted navigation facilities, 

 and perhaps other effects could be expressed in 

 terms of dollars. No estimates of this kind 

 have been made for the entire Gulf, but the total 

 losses undoubtedly would extend into millions of 

 dollars. 



The water-pollution picture in each drainage 

 area is summarized in the following pages. Limits 

 of the areas and their numerical designations are 

 shown on figures 73 and 74. 



LOWER FLORIDA AREA (1) 



In the Lower Florida Area, which extends 

 northward from Key West to include the Caloo- 

 sahatchee River drainage, the economy depends 

 largely on attracting tourists. Water and cli- 

 mate are chief factors in the attraction. Water 

 resources are used for recreation, agriculture, sport 

 and commercial fishing, and shellfishing. Popu- 

 lation is sparse, urban, and has high seasonal 

 fluctuation. 



There are four sewered municipalities. Key 

 West has a new sewerage system under construc- 

 tion which will serve about 40,000 people. In- 

 adequately treated sewage is discharged from La 

 Belle with 400 sewered inhabitants. 



The following have no treatment facilties: 



-_ . . 1.. Sewered 



Municipality: population 



Everglades 300 



Fort Myers 11, 000 



Industry is limited in extent and unimportant 

 to the water-pollution problem. 



The tidal estuary of the Caloosahatchce River 

 is adversely affected by pollution from Fort 

 Myers to the mouth. All of the Caloosahatchce 

 River from the west end of the Seaboard Airline 

 Railroad Bridge on the east to a line drawn cast 

 across the river on the west from Redfish Point 

 is closed to the taking of shellfish because of 

 pollution. 



PEACE RIVER AREA (2) 



The Peace River Area includes the west Florida 

 coastal zone from the middle of Pine Island 

 northward to Osprey. Population is predomi- 

 nantly urban. Chief occupations relate to phos- 

 phate rock mining, agriculture, and processing 

 crops. 



Charlotte Harbor is economically important for 

 sport and commercial fishing, shellfishing, and 

 attraction of a voluminous tourist trade. Up- 

 stream the Peace River is used by one small city 

 for domestic water supply. 



Raw and poorly treated municipal sewage from 

 five small municipalities, wastes from citrus 

 processing, and finely dispersed clay and matrix 

 materials from phosphate mining activities 

 (Phelps and Barry, 1950) cause pollution of the 

 lower river. There are 4 municipalities with 

 sewer systems serving a total of 8,250 persons. 

 Arcadia, with a sewered population of 3,850, has 

 no sewage treatment facOities. The facilities 

 at the following are inadequate: 



Sewered 



Municipality: population 



Wauchula 2, 700 



Punta Gorda 1, 500 



Zolfo Springs 300 



Fort Meade 2, 700 



No shellfish areas are closed because of pollu- 

 tion, but the quality of bathing water at Charlotte 

 Harbor beach is affected by sanitary sewage from 

 Punta Gorda. Overall effects of pollution from 

 all sources upon fishery and other resources are 

 not known. The phosphate waste problem has 

 been studied (Specht 1950), and the effects of 

 these wastes, as well as all other wastes entering 

 the stream, are now being studied in a 4-year 

 survey by the Florida State Board of Health in 

 cooperation with the phosphate companies. 

 TAMPA BAY AREA (3) 



The Tampa Bay Area includes the Florida 

 coastal zone from Treasure Island northward to 

 Crystal Bay. The bulk of the population is con- 

 centrated in the larger cities of Tampa, St. Peters- 

 burg, Sarasota, Clearwater, and Bradenton. Re- 

 sort trade and widespread recreational use of 

 water for bathing, boating, and fishing are eco- 

 nomically important. Water from streams is also 

 used for public water supplies and agricultural 

 purposes. Other notable industries include com- 

 mercial fishing, phosphate mining, and production 

 of chemicals. 



Pollution of the Tampa Bay drainage is caused 

 by municipal discharges serving more than 300,000 

 persons and by industrial waste from 6 upstream 

 phosphate mines, several citrus canneries, and 

 miscellaneous plants. The larger cities in the 

 resort area either do not have treatment facilities 

 or have inadequate ones. 



