I-? 



For three hundred years the estuarine zones of this continent 

 have provided the harbors through which a growing nation's cor,' 

 iiierce moved and around which great centers of population and 

 industry developed. The fisheries of the estuaries and neigh- 

 boring oceans yielded a variety of staple and exotic foods to 

 feed the burgeoning population, while the adjacent fan 'lands 

 benefited from equitable temperatures and seepage of water 

 throughout the estuarine zones. 



These three hundred years of unrestrained exploitation have 

 seen thu world of the estuarine zone evolve into three distinct 

 but interacting environments. 



