5i 



of the 10 most valuable species in American 

 commercial fisheries spend all or important 

 periods of their lives in estuarine waters, and 

 at least 80 other commercially important spe- 

 cies are dependent upon estuarine areas. 



The high productivity of estuarine areas is 

 illustrated by the following example. The 

 maximum yield of Georgia estuarine waters 

 has been estimated at 10 tons of dry organic 

 matter per acre per year, nearly twice that 

 of the best agricultural lands and seven times 

 that of continental shelf fishing banks. But 

 the estuaries are in danger. Pollution is an 

 ever increasing thi-eat. Land fillings, dredg- 

 ing, dumping, and marsh draining reduce 

 their areas. For example, 80 per cent of the 

 300 square miles of tidal wetlands that origi- 

 nally surrounded San Francisco Bay have 

 been filled. In the past 20 years, dredging 

 and filling have destroyed 7 per cent 



Table 3-2 Estuarine Habitat Areas Lost to 

 Filling Operations 



Source : Estuarine Areas, H.R. Rep. No. 989 to aooompamy 

 H.R. 25, 90th CoDig., 1st Sess., p. S. 



(more than a half million acres) of the Na- 

 tion's important fish and wildlife estuarine 

 habitats. 



Aquaculture 



Aquaculture today is of relatively minor 

 importance, but its future role in the coastal 

 zone will grow. As it grows, the problems of 

 conflicting use will increase. Estuarine areas 

 leased for aquaculture may be closed to sport 

 fishermen and, in some cases, may be closed 

 to navigation. A State attempting to develop 

 a major program in aquaculture may be 

 compelled to limit its shoreside industrial 

 development. 



Oil and Mineral Exploration 



The offshore oil industry is growing rap- 

 idly. Several thousand offshore platforms 

 have l)een built in the Gulf of Mexico alone. 

 New developments are expected off Alaska 

 and the Atlantic seaboard. Stiiictures for 600- 

 foot water depths are being designed. Pipe- 

 lines for oil and gas have been laid more 

 than 70 miles offshore. 



Offshore petroleum development has not 

 been witliout conflict. Explosives used in ex- 

 ploring for oil on the Grand Banks have 

 caused considerable conceni among fishermen. 

 The probability that oil will be produced 

 generates additional concern about possible 

 oil spills, pipelines, and other hazards to 

 fishing. Although mineral development of 

 the continental shelf is subject to U.S. con- 

 trol, the fisheries beyond the 12-mile limit are 

 an international resource, causing the ix)ten- 

 tial oil-versus-fish confrontation to have still 

 more serious overtones. 



Tlie density of oil drilling platforms in 

 the Gulf of Mexico is so great that the U.S. 

 Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of 

 Engineers, working coojjeratively with the 

 industry, have been compelled to establish 

 fairways for shipping in and out of Gulf 



