Solutions to these problems in- 

 volve restoration of the natural 

 sheet flow drainage and water storage 

 capacity of the Everglades and Big 

 Cypress systems. Without an appro- 

 priate timing and allocation of 

 fresh water to the estuarine and 

 coastal systems of Florida, the 

 abundant resources which attracted 

 many people to that State initially 

 will be gone. This will not only 

 affect Florida's coastal waters but 

 the Gulf of Mexico fisheries as well. 



Part of Apalachicola Bay has 

 been established as a National Estu- 

 arine Sanctuary. Extensive studies 

 in Apalachicola Bay and the Apalachi- 

 cola River have identified the close 

 relations among river watershed man- 

 agement, river inflow and estuarine 

 production and species composition. 

 The FWS is working with the State, 

 local authorities, and other Federal 

 agencies to prevent the estuarine 

 degradation that has occurred in 

 south Florida. 



The Louisiana coastal region 

 comprises the most productive estu- 

 arine system in the United States 

 because of the large inflow from the 

 Mississippi River and the vast wet- 

 land acreages it has created. 

 Louisiana estuaries support about 20 

 percent of the wintering population 

 of dabbling ducks in the continental 

 U.S. and about 30 percent of the 

 continental wintering population of 

 diving ducks. Louisiana leads all 

 states in the weight of commercial 

 fishery landings and supported over 5 

 million days of sport fishing in 

 1975. The region has 148 colonies of 

 nesting seabirds, shorebirds and 

 wading birds. In 1976, these 

 colonies included over 750,000 birds. 

 These fish and wildlife resources de- 

 pend upon wetlands for their exis- 

 tence and there is an annual loss of 

 from 16.5 to 40 square miles of wet- 

 land in some parts of coastal Loui- 

 siana. Although natural causes have 



been responsible for some marsh sub- 

 sidence and erosion, most of the 

 losses have been attributed to man- 

 caused actions . 



These actions include construc- 

 tion of federally financed navigation 

 channels, Mississippi River levees, 

 flood control reservoirs, canal 

 dredging and spoil disposal associat- 

 ed with oil and gas access, and 

 drainage of wetlands for agriculture. 

 Saltwater intrusion has changed much 

 of the brackish and freshwater marsh 

 to salt marsh. Although the total 

 catch of oysters and shrimp has not 

 decreased significantly, more effort 

 is being expended to attain these 

 catches . 



The catch per shrimp boat has 

 decreased from 44,000 pounds in 

 1945 to less than 5,000 pounds 

 in 1972. 



The production per acre of 



oysters has decreased from 500 



pounds in 1945 to about 75 

 pounds in 1972. 



The FWS introduced a plan to re- 

 introduce fresh water into marshes in 

 1959. The Service also recommended 

 that the Mississippi River and Tribu- 

 taries Act of 1928 be amended to in- 

 clude diverting river flow into these 

 estuarine habitats. The act was 

 amended in 1965 but no major federal- 

 ly funded measures have been con- 

 structed. The FWS through the Divi- 

 sion of Ecological Services, is as- 

 sisting the Corps of Engineers in 

 developing this program. The FWS 

 calculated that one structure alone 

 would result in annual benefits of 

 between $4.4 million and $5.2 mil- 

 lion. 



The Atchafalaya River embayment 

 is the only major area in Louisiana 

 where a delta is developing on the 



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