in the food chain and life cycle of many estuarine and marine species of fish 

 and invertebrates upon which the sport and commercial fishery is based. Sev- 

 eral species of furbearers--e.g. , the muskrat, nutria raccoon, mink--provide 

 a substantial annual commercial harvest. 



A generalized appraisal of the nearshore habitats of the Mid Atlantic 

 region is given by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (24, pp. 13-14) , of 

 which certain sections are excerpted here: 



In New York, the western section of Long Island has a very irregular 

 coastline, with numerous deep bays and promontories. The North 

 Shore possesses narrow, rock or pebble beaches with high bluffs and 

 small marshes. This contrasts with the South Shore's barrier 

 beaches and quiet back bays. The Raritan Bay region is characterized 

 by high bluffs and marshlands fronted by narrow beaches inter- 

 sected by numerous tidal creeks. The region to the south of 

 Raritan Bay consists of long sandy barrier islands with back bays, 

 salt marshes, and meadows that in some areas extend several miles 

 inland. In Delaware and Maryland there are long, low, narrow barrier 

 beaches fronting a series of embayments with infrequent narrow 

 inlets connecting them to the ocean. Virginia has more variation 

 north to south going from barrier island, mainland small buffer 

 islands, mainland and barrier beach. The barrier islands in 

 Maryland such as at Ocean City have undergone extensive develop- 

 ment as compared to Virginia's barrier islands which are prin- 

 cipally privately or federally owned conservation areas. 



Pennsylvania's entire estuarine environment consists of a 45-mile 

 reach of the Delaware River within the tidal influence. 



The Delaware River and estuary is the second largest seaport in the 

 United States and is the site of the largest concentration of oil 

 refineries on the east coast. Despite this, the estuary contains 

 extensive tidal and freshwater marshes and is a very productive 

 coastal region. 



The Chesapeake Bay is one of the largest estuaries in the world, 

 with a surface area of approximately 4,400 square miles and a 

 length of almost 200 miles. Because of the variations in sal- 

 inities, the Bay supports a wide variety of fish life, is the 

 spawning area and nursery for many ocean fishes, and is a 

 favored habitat for many important shellfish. 



If considered as a whole, this region falls into the Virginian 

 classification and acts as a transition zone between Arcadian 

 and Carolinian regions. Oyster grounds, reefs, or "rocks" 

 occur in abundance in the shallow bays of the coast of this region 



59 



