contributions of the entire family 

 (husband and older boys as tonqers, wife 

 and older daughters as shuckers, joint 

 management of the business). Such a 

 family-oriented business structure has 

 strengthened the traditional bond between 

 the community and the industry to an 

 extent that is not common elsewhere in 

 today's society. Thus, family and kinship 

 bonds underlie and strengthen the 

 dependence of the area on the natural 

 industries. 



Some of the more important prospects 

 for regional growth are based on 

 residential develooment of areas such as 

 St. George Island and industrialization 

 of the river watershed. This situation 

 has resulted in a direct confrontation 

 between local and outside developmental 

 interests. Future planning initiatives 

 will have to be based on a reasonable 

 evaluation of the natural renewable- 

 resource base if the local industry is to 

 be protected. The potential for 

 destruction of these resources through 

 environmental alterations and pollution is 

 high. At the same time, the potential for 

 expanding the highly profitable oyster 

 industry with updated management of the 

 resource is excellent. 



7.3. EXISTING AND PROJECTED IMPACT BY MAN 



A number of publications have 

 addressed the problem of environmental 

 alteration and pollution in the 

 Apalachicola drainage system (Livingston 

 1^74, 1P75, 1976a, b, lQ77a-d, 1978, 

 1980a-c, 1983d; Livingston and Duncan 

 1979; Livingston et al. 1974, 1976a, 

 1978). The Apalachicola estuary depends 

 on three basic elements for its 

 productivity: (1) the Apalachicola River 

 system, (2) the Tate's Hell Swamp and 

 surrounding freshwater/brackish wetlands, 

 and (3) the barrier islands. Physical 

 alterations of these areas or changes in 

 water quality or quantity due to human 

 activities could affect the natural 

 processes that define and control the 

 productivity of the river-bay system. 



7.3.1. Physical Alterations 



Darnell (1976) reviewed the effects 

 of structural changes on a range of 

 aquatic systems. Impoundment, 



channelization, dredge and spoil 

 operations, diking, and other physical 

 modifications have the capacity to alter 

 natural aquatic systems. Since the early 

 1970's, there has been considerable 

 controversy concerning efforts to dam 

 and/or channelize the currently free- 

 flowing Apalachicola River. Georgia and 

 Alabama industrial interests want to 

 maintain an authorized 9-ft channel so 

 that barge traffic can move from the Gulf 

 of Mexico to upriver cities along the 

 Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers. 

 Currently, this system is deep enough for 

 barge traffic only 83^ of the time (U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers, 1975), which is 

 not enough for the upriver interests. 

 There are 13 hydroelectric dams on the 

 Chattahoochee River and 3 dams on the 

 Flint River, some of which are privately 

 owned (Figure 4). Publicly owned dams and 

 dredging and maintenance activities have 

 cost in excess of $700 million. 



According to a 1975 environmental 

 impact statement by the U.S. Army Corps of 

 Engineers, dredging has had adverse 

 effects on the Apalachicola River. 

 Livingston and Joyce (1977) point out that 

 impoundments such as the Jim Woodruff Dam 

 cause aquatic weed problems, water guality 

 degradation due to the accumulation of 

 herbicides and insecticides, continued 

 need for dredging due to sedimentation, 

 reduction of habitat due to spoil 

 disposal, and restriction of the movement 

 of nutrients and particulate matter to 

 downriver areas. Dredging and snagging 

 (removal of submerged stumps) operations 

 along the Apalachicola River are blamed 

 for habitat loss (Stevenson 1977), 

 destruction of benthic organisms (Miller 

 et al. 1977), loss of flood-plain 

 vegetation (Clewell and McAninch 1977), 

 reduction of bank overflow, blocked 

 migrations of migratory fishes, 

 restriction of striped bass from thermal 

 refuges and sturgeon from former ranges, 

 and increased pollution due to oil and 

 chemical spills (Figure 44). 



Stabilization of a river usually 

 leads to industrialization and municipal 

 development in the former flood plain with 

 associated effects on water availability 

 and quality. The development of the 

 Apalachicola floodplain is uneconomical in 

 terms of the cost-benefit analysis 



103 



