South Atlantic 



In the South Atlantic region, 2.9 

 million acres of estuarine waters 

 were classified for shellfish har- 

 vesting in 1990. Over 71 percent 

 were approved and 29 percent 

 harvest-limited. This region ranks 

 second in the Nation in percent of 

 approved shellfish-growing waters, 

 and third in percentage of approved 

 waters. 



Estuarine Shellfish-Growing Wa- 

 ters. The South Atlantic region 

 extends from North Carolina to 

 southern Florida. The estuaries of the 

 region are shallow, and while they 

 receive 40 percent of the freshwater 

 inflow on the entire Atlantic Coast, 

 they are more affected by wind- 

 generated circulation than by tides or 

 rivers (NOAA, 1990). Consequently, 

 the estuaries are moderately to highly 

 susceptible to pollution retention. This 

 region ranks third in amount of 

 estuarine water surface area, 4,443 

 square miles. Estuaries range in size 

 from a surface water area of nine 

 square miles for the North and South 

 Santee rivers to 2,949 square miles 

 for Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds. The 

 latter contains over half of the region's 

 approved shellfish-growing waters. In 

 both size and approved shellfish- 

 growing waters, the Albemarle/ 

 Pamlico Sounds estuary is second 

 nationwide only to Chesapeake Bay. 

 South Atlantic estuarine drainage 

 areas (EDAs) contain nearly 5.9 

 million acres of coastal wetlands, 

 second only to the Gulf of Mexico, 

 including the productive sea islands 

 complex of channels and marshlands 

 in South Carolina and Georgia. 

 Sixteen of the 1 8 EDAs in the region 



are dominated by forests. Appendix C 

 identifies the estuaries in the region 

 and summarizes the status of shell- 

 fish-growing waters in each. 



Classified Shellfish-Growing 

 Waters, 1985-1990. The South 

 Atlantic region had the smallest net 

 change in classification and the 

 smallest net loss of approved waters 

 between 1985 and 1990. Although 

 classification changes took place in 12 

 of the region's 18 estuaries, the net 

 change was only 140,000 acres. Of 

 this net change, 5,000 acres were 

 downgrades in previously approved 

 shellfish-growing waters, and 135,000 

 acres were additions to the classifica- 

 tion system (primarily in the restricted 

 classification) from previously unclas- 

 sified waters. 



The South Atlantic led all regions in 

 additional acreage classified as 

 restricted. Florida added 65,000 

 restricted acres to support increases 

 in relaying and depuration operations. 

 Similarly, South Carolina added 



Table 1 1 . Distribution of South 



Atlantic Classified Estuarine 

 Waters, 1985 and 1990 



27 



