PART VIII — AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS 



3. ESTUARIES AND COASTAL ZONES 



The Relationship of Fisheries to Estuaries, 

 With Special Reference to Puget Sound 



The total estuarine system of Puget 

 Sound has historically provided food, 

 recreation, and great aesthetic value 

 to increasing numbers of people. 

 Other major uses include shipping 

 and waste disposal. Potential uses 

 may involve oil exploration and drill- 

 ing, utilization of other under-water 

 nonrenewable resources, provision of 

 more land and living space by modifi- 

 cation of shallow water areas, and, of 

 course, a great increase in food pro- 

 duction through development of vari- 

 ous types of aquaculture or even 

 through enlightened manipulation and 

 control of the larger man-made vari- 

 ables. It is the purpose of the follow- 

 ing statement to point out the neces- 

 sity for identifying existing and 

 future goals and problems related to 

 the fisheries of Puget Sound. 



There is at present no scientific 

 basis for deciding how to optimize the 

 fisheries of Puget Sound while giving, 

 at the same time, full attention to the 

 other existing and potential uses of 

 the estuary. Interaction among the 

 multiple uses of Puget Sound can be 

 expected to be either detrimental or 

 beneficial to the fisheries, but as yet 

 the places and extent of interaction 

 are poorly known, the future signifi- 

 cance of interaction is unpredictable, 

 and therefore the opportunities for 

 planned control are severely limited. 



Types of Information Needed 



To achieve a scientific basis for 

 action there must first be an accept- 

 able definition of the goal or goals 

 being sought. That is, what benefits 

 does man expect to realize from an 

 estuarine system: food, recreation, 

 tourism, industry, . . . ? For the pur- 

 pose of this statement it is presumed 



that viable sport and commercial 

 fisheries (both fish and shellfish) are 

 accepted goals and that they are so 

 strongly desired that any factor which 

 significantly affects them should be 

 identified as fully as possible. 



Biological — The species of fish 

 comprising the commercial and sport 

 fisheries of Puget Sound are well 

 known, and relatively good catch 

 statistics are available for most of 

 them. We have developed, and are 

 continuing to develop, the capabilities 

 to observe and record changes in 

 fishery populations. Relationships be- 

 tween various species of fish popula- 

 tions, their environment, and the 

 ultimate causes of change, however,' 

 are not well understood at present. 

 For example, what effect does exploi- 

 tation at one trophic level (e.g., her- 

 ring) have on the abundance of fish 

 at a higher level (e.g., salmon)? Pre- 

 dictions of changes in fish popula- 

 tions are still in their infancy and in 

 most cases will remain so until these 

 causes for change are better under- 

 stood. Important questions need an- 

 swers in this area. For example, how 

 does progress in serving industrial 

 and residential development needs af- 

 fect the nursery areas and food-chain 

 organisms that support the desired 

 fish and shellfish species intended for 

 commercial and recreational harvest? 



Environmental — These are the en- 

 vironmental problems currently af- 

 fecting the fish and shellfish species 

 and their fisheries in Puget Sound: 



1. Physical degradation. 



(a) Marinas, breakwaters, 

 docks, landfills (residential 

 and industrial), log boom- 

 ing, and sawmills. 



(b) Dredging, rechannelling of 

 river mouths and estuarine 

 areas. 



(c) Altered river discharge pat- 

 terns due to man's activities. 



(d) Thermal power sites. 



1) Heat discharge. 



2) Screening of intake. 



3) Use of biocides. 



4) Radioactive uptake in 

 food chain. 



(e) Litter pollution (disposal of 

 garbage and other solid 

 waste). 



(f) Bio-fouling (which has 

 sometimes made gill nets in 

 Puget Sound totally ineffec- 

 tive). 



2. Organic and inorganic degrada- 

 tion. 



(a) Pulp-mill discharge. 



(b) Sewage discharge (including 

 detergents and other house- 

 hold wastes). 



(c) Chemical pollutants (alu- 

 minum refineries, smelters, 

 metal-plating). 



(d) Petroleum-product pollution 

 (oil refineries and petro- 

 chemical plants). 



(e) Toxicants from plastics 

 manufacturing. 



(f) Agricultural wastes; organic 

 and inorganic fertilizers. 



(g) Siltation and debris from 

 logging activities. 



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