VI-204 



The Importance of Regional Emphasis 



A national program for estuarlne study and management should be 

 developed with strong regional emphasis. The United States should 

 be divided Into regions corresponding to certain conditions. The 

 blologlcal-physlcal-chemlcal properties of estuaries should deter- 

 mine the definition of the regions. Positive estuaries along the 

 Pacific coast from central California northward would comprise one 

 region, the ntgatlve estuaries of southern California another region, 

 the highly variable estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico another region, 

 the estuaries of the southeast States another region, and the 

 estuaries of the northeast a fifth region. Chesapeake Bay, south 

 Florida and the Islands of the Caribbean, Alaska, and Hawaii, are 

 each unique enough to be separate regions also. These are roughly 

 the biophysical regions which are described and utilized as a 

 basis of Information presented earlier In this report. Each region 

 should have a complete Inventory of what has been done in the past. 

 Each region should develop a program whereby It would be determined 

 what the estuarlne resources of that area are now, what changes 

 may occur to Increase these resources, and what changes may be 

 allowed in future development without damaging the current and 

 potential resources of the region. 



