ESTUARINE PROGRAM 

 George A. Rounsefell, Acting Program Leader 



In the lower reaches of rivers and where they meet the sea, the 

 environment is unlike either the typical river or sea. These nnarshes, la- 

 goons, and partially enclosed bays between the fresh water of the river and 

 the salt water of the sea are called estuaries. They furnish habitats in which 

 many commercially important species of fish and crustaceans spend all or a 

 particular portion of their life. Many of the more important Gulf species are 

 quasi-catadromous, that is, the adults spawn at sea, but the young live in the 

 lower salinity water of the estuaries. 



Because of the necessity to understand the effects of an expanding 

 number of manmade changes in the estuaries, a research program was begun 

 in 1959 to explore basic ecology and the type and scope of research necessary 

 to predict the effects of engineering projects upon fishery resources. Before 



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Bringing a sample trawl on board the TOMMY BOX in Galveston Bay. 



1959, some data on estuaries in the Galveston area were obtained during the 

 field operations of other Laboratory projects. The estuarine work is now 

 divided into two basic projects: 



1. The estuarine ecology project is intended to determine the types 

 of habitats suitable for various species of fish and invertebrates, the effects 

 of environmental factors, and their interrelationships. 



2. The evaluation of estuarine data and of engineering projects has 

 a twofold purpose: (a) to examine existing data for a clearer picture of the 



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