Table 10. --(Continued) 



1> 

 10/. 



Except for the 24-ft. channel from Tampa Bay to Bayboro Harbor, which is considered inactive. 

 —'Except 2 ft. in river upstream from power plant at Inglis. 



— Except for removal of rock from Middle Ground Channel. 

 12/ 



— Except for 6 ft. through Derrick Island Gap in Suwannee Sound, and 4 ft. from Branford to 



Ellaville. 



— Except 3 ft. from St. Marks to Carrabelle, 9.2 ft. from Apalachicola Bay to St. Andrew Sound, 

 8-0 ft. in Gulf County Canal, and 8.4 ft. from St. Andrew Bay to Choctawha tehee Bay. 



14/ 



— Florida portion completed except for 35 mi. of the part from St. Marks River to Carrabelle, 



and deepening to 12 ft. and widening the Gulf County Canal. 



— Main channel. 



— Between jetties; 10 ft. in Watson Bayou near Millville. 

 — Except jetties, unconstructed. 



— At mouth of Escambia River and upstream for 7 mi. 



19/ 



— Conecuh River portion recommended for abandonment. 



— Except 9 ft. in Bayou Chico. 



Table 11. --Summary of data on estuarine study areas, 

 Florida west coast 



Characteristic of estuarine study area Total 



1/ 2/ 



Surface area (open water), MHW- , acres— ... 2,081,525 



Volume, MHW, acre-feet- 17,134,603 



Vegetation: 



Submerged, acres 520,431 



Emergent- -tidal marshes, acres 528,528 



Emergent --mangroves, acres 393,160 



Area of estuarine study areas including 



tidal marshes and mangrove swamps, acres.. 3,003,213 



4/ 

 Stream discharges, c.f.s.— 70,251 



Clam beds, acres ~ 



Oyster beds (live), acres 13,844 



Closed to shellfishing, acres 170,698 



Population: 



Coastal counties (I960) 2,448,210 



Coastal counties (1970) 3,320,226 



Cities and towns on estuaries (1960) 910,015 



Commercial fishery development (1967; 



Number of firms 343 



Employees at peak of season 3,549 



Man years 3,114 



Value of landings (ex-vessel value).. $23,117,317 



Value of processed products $53,924,900 



Filled areas, acres 23,521 



Drained areas, acres 26,676 



— MHW = mean high water. 



2/ 



— Hectares = acres x 0.4047. 



3/ 



— Cubic meters = acre-feet x 1,233. 



4/ 



— Total average annual discharge of all streams. 



Liters per second = c.f.s. x 28.3. 



-10,823 lb. (4,909 kg.) of hard clam meats ( Mercenaria 

 campechiensis ) worth $6,247 were landed in Sarasota County 

 in 1969 and 635,684 lb. (288,340 kg.) of sunray venus clam 

 meats ( Macrocallista nimbosa ) from St. Josephs Bay worth 

 $64,522 were landed in Gulf County in 1969. Exact location 

 and size of beds are unknown. 



slightly greater than the area of America's larg- 

 est estuary, Chesapeake Bay (2,071,680 acres = 

 838,409 ha). 



6. The area of submerged vegetation (520,431 

 acres = 210,618 ha) is about one-quarter of the 



open-water surface area. 



7. If the total area of estuaries (3,003,312 

 acres = 1,315,400 ha) is considered to be the 

 area of open water plus the area of mangrove 

 swamps and tidal marshes, roughly one-half of 

 the area is unvegetated; the remaining half is 

 about equally divided among mangrove swamps, 

 tidal marshes, and submerged vegetation. 



8. Geologically, Florida's Gulf coast estuaries 

 are drowned river valleys except Florida Bay, 

 which is a drowned lacustrine plain. Sea level 

 rose 10 ft (3 m) over the past 4,000 years, an 

 average rise of 5 inches (13 cm) per 100 years. 



9. Stream discharge in north Florida is much 

 greater than that in central and south Florida. 

 The Apalachicola, Suwannee, Choctawhatchee 

 and Escambia Rivers discharge nearly 70 per- 

 cent of the total west coast runoff; the Apalachi- 

 cola River alone accounts for about 35 percent of 

 total stream discharge. 



10. Minimum water temperature varies from 

 56.0°F (13.3°C) at Key West to 39.9° F (4.4°C) 

 at Pensacola, according to records of the U.S. 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey. Maximum water 

 temperatures are about the same at all stations, 

 approximately 91.9°F (33.3°C). 



11. Salinities range from to 36%« (the ap- 

 proximate salinity of Gulf of Mexico surface 

 water) except in northern Florida Bay and Ten 

 Thousand Islands, where hypersalinity is com- 

 mon. In some locations between Anclote Keys 

 and Cedar Keys, offshore springs depress salin- 

 ity. 



12. Oyster production is foremost in Apala- 

 chicola Bay where 83 percent of natural public 

 beds are located. The area of live oyster beds 



119 



