Concluding Comments 



This report has described declines 

 in estuarine water quality, de- 

 creases in the acreage of approved 

 molluscan shellfish waters, and 

 continuing declines in the Nation's 

 shellfish harvests. Although 

 declines in any given year are not 

 especially dramatic, an almost 

 inexorable trend that threatens to 

 destroy the harvest of wild or 

 natural shellfish continues through- 

 out the Nation's coastal areas. 



The six percent decline in approved 

 shellfish-growing waters from 1985 to 

 1990 (736,000 acres) was accompa- 

 nied by a 1 .2 million acre increase in 

 prohibited waters. These changes 

 were primarily the result of expanding 

 coastal development, represented by 

 increases in harvest- 

 limited acreage (1.2 mil- 

 lion acres) affected by 

 urban runoff, faulty septic 

 systems, marina develop- 

 ment, and buffer zones 

 around sewage treatment 



A notable example of the impact of 

 coastal development on shellfish- 

 growing waters is the increase in 

 harvest-limited waters (about 50 

 percent) affected by pollution associ- 

 ated with recreational boating. In- 

 creases in recreational boating in 

 many coastal areas have resulted in a 

 proliferation of marinas, many of 

 which do not have facilities to collect 

 or process sewage. Many marinas 

 are located in or near productive 

 shellfish-growing areas, as are the 

 housing and other facilities related to 

 such development. Consequently, in 

 1990 pollution from boating and 

 marinas affected more than 25 

 percent of the harvest-limited shell- 

 fish-growing waters in half of the 

 shellfish-producing states. 



According to molluscan An i ncreasing Role for 



she f.sh growers "The real Aquaculture , Dedines 



battle is to mitigate the n . . .... . 



impacts of humans. No in a PP roved shellfish- 

 clean water, no oysters." growing waters have 

 (Fitzgerald, 1989). I been paralleled by 



declines in the harvests 



plants. The rate of decline in ap- 

 proved acreage is highest in the most 

 productive estuaries such as Chesa- 

 peake Bay, the Mississippi Delta Re- 

 gion estuaries, and Puget Sound. The 

 coastal drainage areas affecting these 

 estuaries already receive some of the 

 heaviest pollution loads in the U.S., a 

 condition that is not likely to change 

 as development continues. NOAA 

 previously reported that between 1960 

 and 2010, the coastal population will 

 grow from 80 million to more than 127 

 million, an increase of almost 60 

 percent (Culliton et al., 1990). 



of wild or natural stocks of molluscan 

 shellfish. A continued decline in the 

 water quality of productive estuaries in 

 combination with the problems of 

 over-harvesting and disease, may 

 eventually eliminate the natural 

 harvest of shellfish. 



Successful aquaculture operations in 

 estuaries such as Willapa Bay have 

 shown that sustained production can 

 be achieved. However, aquaculture 

 requires access to both high quality 

 water and a nearby land base. In 

 addition, successful aquaculture 



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