ECOLOGY OF BUZZARDS BAY: An Estuarine Profile 85 



the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, and Wareham. 

 Those same qualities mat make the Buzzards Bay 

 region attractive for residential growth are also re- 

 sponsible for attracting tourists. Maintaining the natu- 

 ral resources on which the tourism industry is based 

 requires a careful balance between protection of 

 natural resources and accommodating the demands 

 for access, especially to some of the most sensitive 

 yet desirable areas. Employment in the two major 

 tourist sectors, lodging and restaurants, has roughly 

 doubled in the Buzzards Bay region since 1970, 

 and the growth in tourist numbers has been even 

 larger. With this surge in tourism comes a parallel 

 increase in water activities such as boating, fishing, 

 and shellfishing and growth in marine-related 

 businesses. 



The seasonal influx of tourists to communities in 

 the Buzzards Bay region raises their populations by 

 almost three-fold, increasing nutrient loading at a 

 time when nearshore coastal waters are most sus- 

 ceptible to additional inputs. Parallel increases in 

 recreational boating activities can increase turbidity 

 in shallow, nearshore waters, decreasing light pen- 

 etration with negative ecological consequences, 

 notably the potential loss of valuable eelgrass beds. 

 In addition, boat septic discharges add pollutants 

 (although major efforts are underway to increase 

 the availability of pump-out facilities and to restrict 

 nearshore discharge), and small oil and gasoline spills 

 are associated with power boat operation. The natu- 

 ral scenic beauty and recreational resources, as with 

 most coastal environments, are in essence the basic 

 cause of their own potential degradation by increasing 

 the demand for access to these resources. 



Agriculture. Cranberry growing is the domi- 

 nant agricultural activity in the Buzzards Bay water- 

 shed, with dairy cattle farming second. There are 

 12 times more cranberry growers than dairy farm- 

 ers, with economic revenues outstripping dairy pro- 

 duction 30 to 1 (Terklaetal. 1990). Although both 

 have been identified as potential sources of pollu- 

 tion to Buzzards Bay, recent evidence indicates that 

 cranberry production contributes only very small 

 amounts of toxic contaminants from pesticides (Gil 

 1988) and minimal amounts of nitrogen from 



fertilizers (Howes and Teal 1992). The dairy in- 

 dustry, however, is a major generator of fecal 

 pollution through runoff, primarily in the Westport 

 River area. 



With increasing concern over excessive nutrient 

 inputs, it is commonly believed that agriculture rep- 

 resents an important nonpoint source of these pol- 

 lutants to coastal waters. In the drainage area around 

 Buzzards Bay, cranberry growing is by far the larg- 

 est agriculmral land use, occupying some 2,695 ha 

 around the head of the bay. Cranberry bogs are 

 classified as wetlands; although highly modified from 

 natural wetlands and managed so the plants are 

 growing in well-drained soil, there are still periods 

 when the soils are completely saturated (Fig. 5.1). 

 Bogs, frequently created from swamps or low- 

 lying areas, are sited near readily available water, 

 usually with a stream flowing through them which 

 then flows into coastal waters. Cranberry bogs are 

 flooded during certain times of year, in conjunction 

 with insect and disease control, harvesting, and frost 

 protection. Although some of this water may be 

 pumped back into reservoirs when the bogs are 

 drained, eventually it all reaches the coast. 



Cranberry bogs located within the Buzzards Bay 

 watershed contribute about half of Massachusetts 

 cranberry production. Although concentrated in 

 Carver, Rochester, and Wareham (about 80% of 

 the total hectarage in the watershed), bogs are 



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Fig. 5.1. Aerial view of a cranberry bog within the 

 Buzzards Bay watershed. Photo by B. Howes. 



