vi-m 



been a considerable amount of work done, there still exist gaps in 

 our knowledqe of water Quality requirements for the various finfish, 

 shellfish, organisms that comprise their food chains, and other 

 marine species. Further, much of the work that has been done on 

 the subject has addressed itself to toxicity limits which determine 

 the level of various materials that are fatal to marine species. 

 This approach is undesirable because of the objective for management 

 of the marine environment is not to determine the minimum level or 

 quality that can be tolerated, but is to maintain the quality that 

 is necessary to sustain and enhance the fishery production and other 

 beneficial uses of marine areas. This requirement is of particular 

 importance because the estuaries and near-shore zones comprise the 

 nursery grounds and habitat for 75 percent of the important marine 

 species. 



Water Quality Requirements for Plants 



We must be careful to concern ourselves with the plants as well 

 as the animals present in the marine environment. Environmental, 

 chemical, and physical requirements of important species of inshore 

 and estuarine phytoplankton should be determined with reference to 

 the major cations (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium), minor 

 cations (manganese, molybdenum, zinc, vanadium, cobalt, copper, 

 iron, strontium), anions (chlorine, boron, fluorine, iodine, 

 nitrogen, phosphorous, silicon, carbonate, ammonium, sulphate, 

 sulphite, sulphide, bicarbonate, nitrite, and nitrate), vitamins (B^^' 



