Middle Atlantic 



However, the State must now monitor 

 and classify offshore buffer areas near 

 outfalls. 



Pollution Sources Affecting Shell- 

 fish-Growing Waters. Many of the 

 pollution sources affecting Middle 

 Atlantic shellfish-growing waters 

 reflect expanding urbanization in the 

 region. Table 10 shows the major 

 categories of pollution sources 

 affecting harvest-limited waters in 

 Middle Atlantic states. Both sewage 

 treatment plants and urban runoff 

 affected about 57 percent of the 

 harvest-limited areas. About 2,700 

 point source dischargers are located 

 in the region. This represents about 

 31 percent of all point source dis- 

 charges in the Nation's coastal zone. 

 Of the 900 municipal wastewater 

 treatment plants in the region, 61 

 percent are in the Hudson River/ 

 Raritan Bay and Chesapeake Bay 

 estuarine drainage areas (NOAA, 

 1990). Data on pollution sources by 

 estuary are provided in Appendix D. 



Continued growth of the region's 

 coastal population and an increasing 

 demand for coastal recreation has 

 resulted in an increase in marina 

 construction since 1985 (Judy, pers. 

 comm.). As a result, 31 percent of 

 harvest-limited areas in the region are 

 affected by boating activities. The 

 greatest increases in affected acreage 

 were in Chesapeake Bay and Long 

 Island Sound. 



Although agricultural runoff affected 

 only 12 percent of all harvest-limited 

 acreage, it has been associated with 

 eutrophication events in many of the 



region's estuaries (Fisher, 1989). 

 These events and the associated 

 hypoxic conditions adversely affect 

 the disease-resistance capabilities of 

 shellfish, and have resulted in reduc- 

 tions in natural stocks (Anderson, 

 1988). 



Industry, faulty septic systems, and 

 wildlife also contribute to the closure 

 or restriction of shellfish-growing 

 waters. Large quantities of pesticides 

 applied to agricultural lands in several 

 Middle Atlantic estuaries, along with 

 other toxic discharges from industry 

 and urban runoff also affect many 

 shellfishing areas (Costagna, 1988). 



In New Jersey, the removal of point 

 source sewage pollution from inland 

 bays revealed that pollution from 

 nonpoint sources also contributes 

 significantly to harvest limitations. 



Landings 



■ . 



As recently as 1959, the Middle 

 Atlantic region led the Nation in the 

 harvest of oysters, and in total mollus- 

 can shellfish landings. However, 

 since then, increasing urban pollution 

 has closed many of the historically 

 productive areas in Raritan Bay, Long 

 Island Sound, and Narragansett Bay. 

 Over-harvesting, eutrophication, and 

 disease have also destroyed many 

 other formerly productive estuarine 

 shellfishing areas. Consequently, 

 declines in the overall landings of 

 estuarine shellfish continued between 

 1985 and 1990, despite increased 

 aquaculture. Figure 6 shows landings 

 in millions of pounds of meats of the 

 principal harvested species in the six 

 major produc ing states in the re gion. 



21 



