Introduction 



The 1990 National Shellfish Regis- 

 ter of Classified Estuarine Waters 

 (Register) describes declines in 

 estuarine water quality, decreases 

 in the acreage of approved mollus- 

 can shellfish-growing waters, and 

 continuing declines in the Nation's 

 shellfish harvests. Relationships 

 between these declines are dis- 

 cussed. Although declines in any 

 given year, and even from 1985 to 

 1990, are not 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 Register has recorded changes in 

 the classification of molluscan shell- 

 fish-growing waters since 1966, when 

 there were nine million acres of 

 estuarine waters classified (Table 2). 

 Produced every five years, the 

 Register has evolved from a tabular 

 report on classifications to a detailed 

 analysis supported by an electronic 

 data base and mapping system 

 developed by the National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration 

 (NOAA). 



The 1990 Register covers 3,172 

 shellfishing areas encompassing 18.7 

 million acres of classified estuarine 

 and offshore waters in 23 states. The 

 data are aggregated by 122 estuaries 

 and sub-estuaries, most of which are 

 identified in NOAA's National Estua- 

 rine Inventory (NEI) (Appendix A). 

 The current NEI does not contain data 

 for Alaska and Hawaii. For Alaska, 

 the data in the Register are organized 



by five fisheries management districts. 

 Non-estuarine shellfishing areas 

 extending seaward to the three-mile 

 limit (offshore areas), account for 

 about 1 .5 million acres and are treated 

 separately. 



Register Process. The 1990 Regis- 

 ter is the culmination of five years of 

 data collection and analysis. Following 

 the 1985 Register, shellfish-growing 

 waters were aggregated by estuary 

 according to NOAA's NEI (NOAA, 

 1985). The classifications of 

 shellfishing areas could then be 

 considered in conjunction with human 

 activities and natural conditions 

 across entire watersheds. This 

 expansion of the Register data base 

 resulted in a series of regional reports 

 produced between 1988 and 1990 

 that clarified: (1) classifications of 

 shellfishing areas; (2) water quality 

 trends; (3) pollution sources affecting 

 classifications; (4) State program 

 resources; and (5) trends in landings. 



The 1990 Register process began in 

 February 1990, when NOAA initiated 

 investigations with State shellfish 

 management agencies (Alaska and 

 Hawaii were added to the survey and 

 Pennsylvania was deleted). Data 

 were collected on classified areas and 

 compiled on 280 NOAA nautical 

 charts. Data also were collected on 

 pollution sources, shoreline surveys of 

 actual and potential pollution sources, 

 water quality sampling results, com- 

 mercial shellfish landings, program 

 budgets, and personnel. 



