Gulf of Mexico 



a. Acres are times 1 ,000; % is percent of all harvest-limited acreage in state. 



b. Since the same percentage of a shellfish area can be affected by more than one source, the percentages shown above 

 cannot be added. They will not sum to 100. 



approved to approved made by both 

 Mississippi and Louisiana in Missis- 

 sippi Sound. Mississippi completed 

 sanitary surveys which enabled the 

 State to open 124,000 acres, and 

 Louisiana increased sampling efforts 

 in the estuary, allowing the reclassifi- 

 cation of 71 ,000 acres. Significant 

 declines in approved waters occurred 

 in Choctawhatchee Bay (53,000 

 acres), Pensacola Bay (43,000 acres), 

 Mississippi Delta Region (7,000 

 acres), Brazos River (4,000 acres), 

 Matagorda Bay (32,000 acres), San 



Antonio Bay (69,000 acres), and 

 Upper Laguna Madre (226,000 acres). 



Most of the region's classification 

 changes were a result of management 

 decisions based on increased sanitary 

 survey and sampling activities. This 

 expansion allowed Florida and Texas 

 to increase their conditionally ap- 

 proved waters by 245,000 acres. 

 Although Mississippi and Louisiana 

 increased approved shellfish-growing 

 waters, administrative limitations 

 resulted in a 240,000 acre decrease in 



36 



