leases, and professional assistance with the task 

 of compiling the data of Table 4. We interviewed 

 oystermen to obtain estimates of the location and 

 acreage of public beds in estuaries other than 

 Apalachicola Bay. The Florida State Board of 

 Health maintains a constantly updated book of 

 maps showing the results of surveys of the 

 abundance of coliform bacteria, which are the 

 basis for approval, conditional approval or dis- 

 approval of areas for oyster harvesting (Fla. 

 State Board of Health, 1966b) . The maps were 

 used for our compilation of acreage that is 

 "Closed to shellfishing." In addition, we mapped 

 all commercial or potentially commercial oyster 

 beds and all areas leased for oyster cultivation 

 from the State (Figs. 8-12, 15, 17-23). 



Commercial production of the clam, Merce- 

 naria campechiensis, began in about 1880 and 

 increased in 1900 when vast beds near the Ten 

 Thousand Islands were discovered (Schroeder, 

 1924). Commercial production reached a peak 

 in 1932 and remained high until it declined 

 sharply from 1945 to 1950 because of overfishing 

 (Tiller, Glude, and Stringer, 1952). Intensive 

 harvesting of beds in Charlotte County in 1962- 

 1964 provided a short-lived spurt in production 

 (Futch and Torpey, 1966). Clams are wide- 

 spread on this coast in salinities of 20-35%« and 

 from mean high tide to over 50 ft (15 m) ; yet, 

 we are unaware of commercial concentrations 

 anywhere. Another species, the sunray venus 

 clam (Macrocallista nimbosa) , however, has 

 been harvested commercially since 1967 near St. 

 Joseph Bay (Stokes, Joyce, and Ingle, 1968). 



Research on Florida west coast clams was 

 active over the past 10 years. Menzel (1962) 

 described growth, and Saloman and Taylor 

 (1969) correlated growth with age. Surprising- 

 ly few surveys of distribution and abundance 

 are available. Woodburn (1962) surveyed the 

 waters of Charlotte County, Sims and Stokes 

 (1967) Tampa Bay, and recently the Florida 

 Department of Natural Resources (1970) re- 

 ported on quantitative sampling in the Tampa 

 Bay and Cedar Keys areas using a hydraulic clam 

 dredge of the conveyor type. Hybrids from 

 crosses of northern and southern quahogs have 

 been successfully reared and their average 

 growth was superior to native stock (Menzel, 

 1962; Woodburn, 1963; Menzel, 1966). Despite 

 the presence of vast areas that are well suited 

 to clam farming, only Woodburn (1961) and 



Table 4. --Area of oyster beds (public and private) and area 

 closed to shellfishing by State and County governments in 

 estuarine study areas, west coast of Florida 



Study area 



Public 

 Natural Planted 



Florida Bay 



Lake Ingraham 



Whitewater Bay 



Cape Sable to 



Lostmans River 



Lostraans River to 



Mormon Key 



Mormon Key to 



Caxambas Pass 



Caxambas Pass to 



Gordon River 



Doctors Pass to 



Estero Pass , 



Caloosahatchee River. 

 Pine Island Sound.... 



Charlotte Harbor 



Leraon Bay 



Sarasota Bay System.. 



Tampa Bay 



Hillsborough Bay 



Old Tampa Bay 



Boca Ciega Bay 



St. Joseph Sound 



Baileys Bluff to 



Saddle Key 



Saddle Key to 



S. Mangrove Pt 



Waccasassa Bay 



Suwannee Sound 



Suwannee Sound to 



Deadman Bay 



Deadman Bay 



Deadman Bay to 



St. Marks River 



Apalachee Bay 



St. Ceorge Sound 



Apalachicola Bay 



St. Joseph Bay 



St. Andrew Sound 



East Bay (St. Andrew) 



St. Andrew Bay 



West Bay 



North Bay 



Choctawhatchee Bay... 



Santa Rosa Sound 



East Bay (Pensacola) . 



Escambia Bay 



Pensacola Bay 



Perdido Bay 



Total 8,368 



shell- 

 fishing 



5,125 



U Leased from State. 

 2/ 



170,698 



Hectares = acres x 0.4047. 



Menzel and Sims (1962) have reported farming 

 experiments. Predation on juveniles by the blue 

 crab, Callinectes sapidus, makes it necessary to 

 fence off experimental plots. 



ARTIFICIAL FISHING REEFS 



Of 20 artificial fishing reefs constructed in 

 Florida west coast waters up to 1966, only three 

 were in estuaries (Woodburn, 1966) . State per- 

 mits have been issued for others, but we know 

 of only one more built in a west coast estuary. 



87 



