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resource for his benefit. 



Very rarely does an individual or an organization use an estuarine 

 area for only one purpose. Tourists may come for recreation, but 

 they also dispose of their wastes in the estuarine zone. An industry 

 may use an estuary for shipping and for waste disposal, but many of 

 its employees will be sport fishermen or boating enthusiasts who use 

 the estuary for recreation. The fishermen and oystermen who harvest 

 the living resources still need navigation channels and docks for 

 their boats. 



The value and the importance of the estuarine zone lie in the great 

 number of ways in which it can serve human society. Multiple use of 

 the estuarine resource is an intrinsic feature of the socioeconomic 

 environment of the estuarine zone, and those estuarine systems which 

 can be used intensively for many purposes are the most valuable com- 

 ponents of the national estuarine system. 



