lakes, 0.9 million ha (2.2 million acres) of bays and sounds, and over 50,000 ha (125,000 

 acres) of bayous and rivers in 1968. The LCR has been divided into two main 

 physiographic units (Morgan 1973): the deltaic plain of the central and eastern portions 

 and the chenier plain of the western portion. Both of these regions have been developed 

 over the past 5,000 years by a series of prograding and overlapping deltaic lobes composed 

 of sediments transported by the lower Mississippi River and its distributaries. Both 

 the deltaic plain and the chenier plain have been the subject of extensive ecological 

 characterization efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Coastal 

 Ecosystems Team. Approximately 74% of Louisiana's coastal marshes occur in the 

 deltaic plain, while 26% are found in the chenier plain. 



Importance to Fish and Wildlife 



Fisheries . Louisiana consistently leads the United States in volume of commerical 

 fishery landings. Nearly 3.7 billion kg (1.7 billion lb) of commercial fish and shellfish, 

 worth approximately $190 million at dockside, were landed in Louisiana during 1978 

 (National Marine Fisheries Service 1979). The bulk of this catch is composed of 

 estuarine-dependent species including menhaden, Atlantic croaker, seatrout, spot, red 

 drum, blue crab, brown shrimp, white shrimp, and American oyster. The LCR also 

 supports a large recreational fishery. Approximately 580,000 persons expended over 5 

 million saltwater angling days in the area in 1975, spending over $35 million (U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service 1977). Approximately 373,000 man-days were spent sport shrimping 

 in the LCR in 1968 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1976), and present effort is believed to 

 be much higher. 



Wildlife . The Louisiana coastal marshes are of great importance to migratory 

 waterfowl, providing winter habitat for more than two-thirds of the entire Mississippi 

 Flyway waterfowl population in recent years (Bellrose 1976). Palmisano (1973) noted 

 that one-fourth of the North American puddle duck population winters in these wetlands, 

 with peak numbers of over 5.5 million of these birds recorded during December 1970. 

 Coastal Louisiana's wetlands also support over one-half of the continental mottled duck 

 population, with fall populations of 75,000 to 120,000 birds reported (Bellrose 1976). 

 Diving ducks are also abundant in the Louisiana coastal marshes and adjacent waters 

 during fall and winter. More than 90% of the Mississippi Flyway's 870,000 lesser scaup 

 winter in Louisiana, primarily in its coastal zone (Bellrose 1976). In addition, nearly 38% 

 of the canvasbacks that winter in the Mississippi Flyway occur in Louisiana, mostly in Six 

 Mile and Wax lakes of the lower Atchafalaya basin and Atchafalaya delta (Bellrose 

 1976). Many ducks present in fall and spring are transients that utilize the LCR for 

 feeding and resting enroute to or from Central and South America (Palmisano 1973). The 

 Louisiana coastal marshes and adjacent ricefields have supported 369,000 lesser snow 

 geese and 55,000 white-fronted geese in recent years (Art Brazda, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, Lafayette, Louisiana, personal communication). 



The LCR wetlands provide important habitat to numerous other migratory birds. 

 Common game species include clapper rail, king rail, sora, common snipe, purple 

 gallinule, and common gallinule. Non-game migratory species are also abundant in the 

 area. A total of 148 nesting colonies of seabirds, wading birds, and shorebirds 

 representing 26 species and over 794,000 nesting adults were inventoried in the LCR 

 during 1976 (Portnoy 1977). In addition, approximately 14 active bald eagle nests were 

 recorded by Fish and Wildlife Service personnel in the LCR during 1980, representing the 

 largest nesting concentration of this endangered species in the south-central United 

 States. 



TOO 



