V-292 



the advent of water pollution, today there is no oyster 

 fishery. 



Before 1935 the annual commercial harvest of soft-shell 

 clam fishery varied from 100,000 to 300,000 pounds. 

 Because of the water pollution problem there is no commercial 

 soft-shell clam industry. Recreational clam-digging is 

 virtually nonexistent due to contamination. 



The annual commercial landings of the shrimp fishery prior 

 to 1936 were as high as 6.5 million pounds. Landings in 

 1965 were 10,000 pounds. 



In 1830, 5,000 sea otter skins were annually taken from the 

 Bay. Today there are no sea otters. Kelp beds were 

 abundant in the Bay at that time. Today we know of no 

 kelp beds. 



The harbor seal were abundant until about 1890. Today 

 there are about 90 to 150. 



(2) Water Quality Damage. Historically, upstream hydraulic 

 mining has severely altered the ecology of the Bay, through 

 siltation. 



More recently the volume of poorly treated industrial, 

 agricultural and domestic wastes have increased to the 

 point where fishlife has been damaged in some areas. 



