South Atlantic 



pollution, and habitat loss from coastal 

 development. Oyster landings 

 declined from one million pounds to 

 290,000 pounds between 1985 and 

 1989. Only two of the State's once 

 numerous oyster-shucking houses 

 remain. Clam landings fluctuated 

 between 108,000 and 240,000 

 pounds. The State has just begun 

 operations at the Nation's largest clam 

 hatchery. No scallop or mussel 

 landings were reported. Between 

 January and May 1988, South Caro- 

 lina closed over 4,600 acres of 

 approved shellfish-growing waters 

 after discovering the red tide in its 

 northern waters. The State currently 

 is planting shell to revitalize its oyster 

 beds, and is encouraging aquaculture 

 operations. 



Georgia had the second smallest 

 shellfish harvest in the Nation. In 

 1989, oyster landings reached their 

 highest level in five years, 46,000 

 pounds. Although Georgia's estuarine 

 waters are high in nutrients and are 

 relatively clean, restrictions on dredg- 

 ing, access to reefs in tidal creeks, 

 and the difficulty of removing oysters 

 from large clumps has delayed 

 development of the oyster industry. 

 Leases for bid are rare because 

 upland property owners' rights extend 

 to the mean low water level, and all 

 marsh lands are state-owned. In 

 addition, the State's limited classifica- 

 tion resources led to a policy that 

 requires the closing of all shellfish- 

 growing waters near urban areas. 

 These same factors affect the clam 

 harvest, which did not decline but 

 varied greatly from 7,000 pounds to 

 64,000 pounds annually. 



Oyster harvest in Florida increased 

 from 28,000 to 134,000 pounds as a 

 result of hatchery operations. The 

 number of planted seed oysters 

 produced in hatcheries increased from 

 16 million in 1988 to 74 million in 

 1990. The scallop harvest declined 

 from 10 million to 3.4 million pounds. 

 The historically substantial clam 

 harvest also declined significantly, 

 from 1 .5 million pounds in 1 985 to 

 300,000 pounds in 1989. Decreases 

 in Indian River resulted primarily from 

 over-harvesting. However, in the St. 

 Johns River and Biscayne Bay 

 estuaries, the decline resulted from 

 pollution due to increases in urban 

 population. Most of Biscayne Bay's 

 shellfish-growing waters have been 

 removed entirely from classification. 

 Still, clam hatchery operations have 

 recently been initiated in Indian River 

 and Biscayne Bay. 



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