through these pumping facilities 

 and lost from the estuary. The ac- 

 tual diversion of striped bass is 

 believed to be even greater because 

 essentially all of the striped bass 

 eggs and larvae approaching the 

 pumps are passed through the diver- 

 sion system into canals. 



Continued or increased diver- 

 sion of fish, fish eggs and fish 

 larvae from the estuary will likely 

 reduce the population's capability 

 to be self-sustaining. If the ex- 

 port of fish from the system is al- 

 lowed to continue, the once-impor- 

 tant fisheries of San Francisco Bay 

 and tributaries may be even more 

 seriously impaired. 



The inflow to the Columbia Riv- 

 er estuary has also been altered. The 

 most obvious impact to the fisheries, 

 aside from the recent eruption of Mt . 

 St. Helens, has occurred from habitat 

 losses in upstream areas due to dams 

 and reservoirs. Under the Mitchell 

 Act, the NMFS has a long standing 

 commitment to restoration and en- 

 hancement of Columbia River salmon 

 and steelhead trout. These popula- 

 tions have been greatly impacted by 

 mainstream hydroelectric development. 

 As many of you know, up-river salm- 

 on stocks, which have been declin- 

 ing for many years, are now precar- 

 iously few in number. Even with 

 intensive management, Columbia River 

 salmon and steelhead trout have also 

 been substantially reduced from his- 

 toric levels of abundance. As a re- 

 sult, careful study is now being 

 given to various aspects of this 

 problem, including freshwater inflow 

 requirements in the river and estu- 

 ary, in order to better manage the 

 survival of young salmon during their 

 downstream migration. 



In Chesapeake Bay, as well as 

 other east coast estuaries, stocks of 

 striped bass have declined so drama- 

 tically that Congress has approved 



and authorized funding of special 

 studies to determine the cause. Ban- 

 ning the commercial harvest of shad 

 is being considered in Chesapeake 

 Bay, since the catch has declined 

 more than 80 percent since 1970 (i.e. 

 from 5,150,000 to 994,000 pounds). 



On an "average day" about 1 gal- 

 lon out of every 30 gallons of fresh- 

 water inflow to the bay comes from 

 sewage effluent. During the 1980 's 

 one of every two to three gallons of 

 Chesapeake bay inflow will be warmed 

 by electrical generators. Each time 

 a bay area home is developed, approx- 

 imately four tons of silt are added 

 to the Chesapeake. Yet it is esti- 

 mated that the land needed for resi- 

 dential purposes will approximately 

 double between 1970 and 2020. Pro- 

 jected increases in manufacturing 

 indicate that industry also will 

 require 50 percent more land. 



As populations and industries 

 increase, more and more fresh water 

 will be impounded and diverted to 

 satisfy municipal and industrial 

 needs. Unless political, social, and 

 economic values are changed, the 

 valuable natural resources of Chesa- 

 peake Bay may very well continue to 

 dwindle and go the way of the Atlan- 

 tic and short-nosed sturgeon. 



The Gulf of Mexico estuarine 

 area with its 207 estuaries is the 

 largest in the United States, except- 

 ing those of Alaska. Through the 

 early 20th Century, its fisheries did 

 not assume major national importance. 

 However, since 1940 things have 

 changed. The gulf's predominantly 

 estuarine-dependent fisheries now 

 produce nearly 70 percent of all 

 United States commercial fish and 

 shellfish and over 30 percent of the 

 dollar value. Yet development and 

 agriculture are altering the vital 

 comingling of fresh and salt water 

 in Gulf estuaries. 



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