Such a study should have five 

 data-gathering elements: (1) moni- 

 toring of freshwater flow rates; (2) 

 measurement of vertical profiles of 

 salinity, temperature, oxygen, and 

 current direction and velocities; (3) 

 measurement of detrital biomass and 

 decomposition rates; (4) mapping of 

 isohalines and quantification of area 

 between isohalines periodically 

 during the nursery season; (5) map- 

 ping and quantification of poten- 

 tially productive habitat area, based 

 on physical and biological features, 

 at different levels of high tide; and 

 (6) monitoring of fishery yield and 

 effort. In addition, we should also 

 measure the input rates of nutrients, 

 detritus, sediments, and toxic com- 

 pounds . 



Some of the potential relation- 

 ships that should be explored through 

 statistical analysis and computer 

 modeling are: (1) "Production area" 

 (defined as the area of overlap of 

 the favorable salinity band and 

 favorable stationary physical and 

 biological habitat features) vs. 

 freshwater flow during the nursery 

 season; (2) stratification vs. fresh- 

 water flow; (3) fishery production 

 vs. production area; (4) fishery 

 production vs. area of marsh; (5) 

 detrital decomposition vs. stratifi- 

 cation; (6) recruitment vs. currents 

 during critical periods of postlarval 

 transport; and (7) fishery production 

 vs. water quality. 



Such studies, conducted in a 

 number of gulf coast estuaries and 

 employing ocean engineers, physical 

 oceanographers , remote sensing spe- 

 cialists, systems ecologists, hydrol- 

 ogists, geologists, and fishery biol- 

 ogists could contribute significantly 

 to a quantitative understanding of 

 the role of fresh water in fishery 

 production. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



The authors appreciate the as- 

 sistance of Bernard Yokel, Rookery 

 Bay Marine Research Station, Naples, 

 Florida; Peter Schroeder, South 

 Florida Environmental Research 

 Foundation, Don Allen, James Zuboy, 

 and Lynn Pulos of the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, Miami, Florida, 

 and others who contributed to this 

 report. We thank Jeanette Bass, 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 Miami, Floirda, for typing the manu- 

 script. 



LITERATURE CITED 



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