counts. Of all the Florida estuaries that were analyzed, the estuaries in 

 Northwest Florida generally had the highest concentrations of dissolved oxy- 

 gen. Nutrient concentrations were low at all stations in St. Joseph Bay. 

 Organic nitrogen and ammonia averaged below 0.45 mg/1 and 0.20 mg/1, respec- 

 tively. Fecal coliform concentrations ranged from 2/100 ml in St. Josephs Bay 

 to 205/ 100 ml in Perdido Bay, but most were below 100/100 ml. Counts aver- 

 aged less than 600/100 ml in all estuaries, except St. Andrews Bay. Turbidity 

 and suspended solid values were generally high, ranging from 2 to 22 JTU's and 

 from 9 to 32 mg/1, respectively. Apalachicola Bay exhibited the highest 

 values for both parameters and St. Josephs Bay exhibited the lowest. Diver- 

 sity varies widely ranging from 1.7 in Perdido to 3.9 in St. Josephs Bay. 

 Diversity depends on many factors including salinity. Among the bays, St. 

 Josephs Bay and St. Andrews Bay had the lowest freshwater inputs and the 

 highest diversity. 



Overall,, water quality is excellent in most Northwest Florida estuaries. 

 St. Josephs and St. Andrews Bay have the best water quality in the State. 

 Perdido and Escambia Bay have the lowest water quality in Northwest Florida 

 but compared to other Florida estuaries, however, its water quality is rela- 

 tively good. In Northwest Florida a number of Class II fishing areas have 

 been closed due to high fecal coliform concentrations. This has especially 

 been a problem in the Apalachicola area where over a period of 18 months, 

 numerous closings of the oyster fisheries were required. The Department of 

 Natural Resources reported that these high total coliform counts were caused 

 by municipal pollution and, to a lesser extent, natural conditions. 



Economic Evaluation of Florida's Fresh and Saltwater Resources 



As a peninsular state, Florida has an abundance of high quality fresh, 

 brackish, and salt waters. Natural resources are abundant and the economy is 

 linked to and dependent upon the natural resources with special importance 

 attached to the quantity and quality of its freshwater supplies (Lynch 1977). 



Florida's $17 billion tourist industry and the well-being of all its 

 residents are linked to the quality of the water supplies. Based on lost 

 fishing opportunities. Bell and Canterbury (1976) examined the cost of the 

 effects of water pollution nationally and for Florida. The economic impact of 

 pollution on marine resources in Florida due to sublethal effects of pollu- 

 tion, reduced bioproductivity and potential protein production; the closure of 

 shellfish fishing areas has caused a loss of over 8% of the recreational 

 potential of Florida. Researchers also examined potential benefits that would 

 result if pollution were reduced as set forth in the Clean Water Act. They 

 suggested that the potential increase in recreational days from 1974 to 1985 

 would nearly double (from 55 million to 105 million). This potential rise 

 would increase the nonmarket value of sport fisheries in Florida by $133 mil- 

 lion. 



In a report released by the Department of Policy Sciences, Florida State 

 University (Bell 1979), the saltwater fishery in Florida supports a $2 billion 

 industry and and provides, directly and indirectly, over 118,000 jobs. The 

 freshwater sport fishery was valued at over $1 billion in 1975 and supported 

 directly and indirectly about 75,500 jobs. In 1980 dollars at a 6-7/8% dis- 

 count rate, the sport fisheries of Florida was valued at $4.75 billion. This 

 income is a major contribution to the recreation industry. 



256 



