ROLE OF THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE IN THE 

 PROTECTION OF FRESHWATER INFLOW ESTUARIES 



John W. Rote 



Director, Office of Habitat Protection 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 

 Washington, D.C. 



Presented by 



Kenneth Roberts 



Deputy Director, Office of Habitat Protection 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 



Under the Fishery Conservation 

 and Management Act of 1972 and other 

 laws the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service (NMFS) is assigned the man- 

 agement and conservation of the Na- 

 tion's living marine resources, in- 

 cluding those of a coastal, estu- 

 arine, anadromous , and offshore na- 

 ture. NMFS regards preservation 

 and enhancement of the productivity 

 of these resources and the habitats 

 upon which they depend to be an es- 

 sential aspect of this responsibi- 

 lity. 



The goal of this symposium is 

 to review problems associated with 

 freshwater inflow to estuaries and 

 to formulate recommendations. Un- 

 der this goal the purpose of my 

 presentation is to emphasize the 

 critical importance of freshwater 

 inflows to marine commercial and rec- 

 reational fisheries and to discuss 

 some of the problems and experiences 

 we have encountered in the protec- 

 tion of inflows. 



Mineral and organic nutrients 

 from freshwater inflows contribute 

 to the particular richness of estu- 

 arine productivity. Inflow velocity, 



in combination with tidal forces, in- 

 fluences estuarine circulation, the 

 recycling of nutrients, and, in some 

 cases, the distribution of organisms. 

 The net result of these and other 

 factors is a national system of rich, 

 and productive estuaries, which are 

 important because of their unique 

 aesthetic qualities and the valuable 

 living marine resources which they 

 support. 



The importance of the estuarine 

 environment to fisheries of the Uni- 

 ted States is considerable. Sixteen 

 wetland species or species groups 

 account for 57 to 63 percent or about 

 three billion pounds of recent annual 

 U.S. commercial fish landings. It is 

 estimated that 60 to 70 percent of 

 the most valuable commercial species 

 of the Atlantic and gulf coast occupy 

 estuaries during all or part of their 

 life cycles. 



Data compiled by the NMFS Rec- 

 reational Fisheries Program indicate 

 that in 1970 about 1.6 billion pounds 

 of fish were caught by marine rec- 

 reational fisherman. A 1975 study 

 indicated that retail sales of about 

 2 billion dollars were attributable 



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