Pacific 



Classified Shellfish-Growing 

 Waters in Alaska and Hawaii, 1990. 



There were 36 areas classified as 

 approved in Alaska, totaling nearly 

 198,000 acres. Another 7,000 acres 

 have production potential or already 

 contain aquaculture operations. 

 There are no harvest-limited waters. 

 A growing industry based on aquacul- 

 ture is producing oysters, mussels, 

 and clams, a portion of which are 

 shipped within Alaska. The wild 

 harvesting of razor clams has also 

 increased. 



In Hawaii, interest in oyster and clam 

 culture has resulted in the classifica- 

 tion of one acre as approved and 1 7 

 acres as conditionally approved. Over 

 18,000 acres remain prohibited as a 

 result of pollution from urban, indus- 

 trial, and boating sources. 



Pollution Sources Affecting Shell- 

 fish-Growing Waters. Many of the 

 pollution sources affecting Pacific 

 shellfish-growing waters reflect 

 expanding urbanization in the region. 

 The region's population is expected to 

 double between 1960 and 2010 to 

 nearly 46 million, 77 percent of which 

 will reside in coastal counties (Culliton 

 etal., 1990). Table 16 shows the 

 major categories of pollution sources 

 affecting the harvest-limited waters in 

 the region. Data on pollution sources 

 aggregated by estuary are provided in 

 Appendix D. 



Many urban centers in the Pacific 

 region use ocean outfalls. Conse- 

 quently, there are fewer than 1 ,000 

 point sources of pollution in estuarine 

 drainage areas of the Pacific region, 

 the second fewest among regions 



(NOAA, 1990). However, the Pacific 

 region has the Nation's highest 

 percentage (42 percent) of harvest- 

 limited shellfish-growing waters 

 affected by industry. Three-quarters of 

 the industrial dischargers are located 

 in Puget Sound, Columbia River, San 

 Francisco Bay, and San Pedro Bay. 

 Three of the largest point source 

 dischargers are pulp and paper mills 

 located along Columbia River. Of 

 these large estuaries, only Puget 

 Sound currently has commercial 

 harvest. 



Sewage treatment plants affect 25 

 percent of the harvest-limited shell- 

 fish-growing waters and are concen- 

 trated in the San Pedro, Santa 

 Monica, and San Francisco bays, 

 Columbia River, and Puget Sound 

 estuarine drainage areas. An addi- 

 tional 1 6 percent are affected by 

 sewage treatment plants located 

 upstream. Many sewage treatment 

 plants in Southern California have 

 contributed to the removal of southern 

 shellfish-growing waters from classifi- 

 cation. One of the few harvests south 

 of Drakes Estero in 1990 was from oil 

 platform aquaculture projects in the 

 Santa Barbara Channel. 



Urban runoff and faulty septic systems 

 are also significant, affecting 36 and 

 19 percent of harvest-limited waters 

 respectively. Agricultural runoff 

 affects 1 3 percent of these waters and 

 is particularly significant in Tillamook 

 Bay because of extensive agricultural 

 lands used primarily for dairy opera- 

 tions. Over 23,000 cows contribute 

 more than three million tons of ma- 

 nure annually. 



45 



