Middle Atlantic 



In the Middle Atlantic region, 5.3 

 million acres of estuarine waters 

 were classified for shellfish harvest 

 in 1990 (Figure 5). Over 79 percent 

 were approved and 21 percent were 

 harvest-limited. In addition, New 

 Jersey classified 265,000 acres of 

 offshore waters, 78 percent of 

 which were approved. This region 

 ranks highest in the Nation in both 

 quantity of classified and percent- 

 age of approved waters. 



Estuarine Shellfish-Growing Wa- 

 ters. The Middle Atlantic region 

 extends from Buzzards Bay in Massa- 

 chusetts through Chesapeake Bay in 

 Virginia. The region's coastal plain 

 estuaries are shallow and subject to 

 strong tidal circulation, creating an 

 ideal habitat for molluscan shellfish. 

 Consequently, this region contains 

 more estuarine shellfish-growing 

 waters (4.2 million acres) than any 

 other. The region's estuaries vary in 

 size from a surface water area of 32 

 square miles for the Delaware Inland 

 Bays to 3,800 square miles for 

 Chesapeake Bay. The drainage 

 basins directly affecting the quality of 

 shellfish-growing waters are relatively 

 densely populated and contain large 

 amounts of urban land (NOAA, 1990). 

 Chesapeake Bay has the region's 

 largest drainage area, greatest 

 freshwater inflow, and contains the 

 most wetlands. Nearly half of all 

 approved shellfish-growing waters in 

 the region are in the Bay. 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. Approved 

 shellfish-growing waters in the region 

 declined from 82 percent of classified 

 waters in 1985 to 79 percent in 1990. 

 Downgrades occurred in all but two 

 states (New Jersey and Virginia), and 

 resulted in an additional 156,000 

 acres being downgraded to harvest- 

 limited classifications. Over one 

 million acres are now classified as 

 harvest-limited in the region. In 

 addition, over 78,000 non-productive 

 acres were removed from the Register 

 data base. Table 9 shows classifica- 

 tions by state for 1985 and 1990. 



Eleven of the 21 estuaries in the 

 region had downgrades in classifica- 

 tion of shellfish-growing waters, while 

 five had upgrades. Approved acreage 

 outside estuaries in NOAA's NEI 

 declined by 26,000 acres. Declines 



Table 9. Distribution of Middle 



Atlantic Classified Estuarine 

 Waters, 1985 and 1990 



19 



