159 



Sludge generated by the Baltimore- Washington area is expected 

 to increase between 1960 and 1980 from 70,000 to 160,000 tons, a rise 

 of about 140 percent. For the New York area during the same period, 

 the increase is expected to be from 99,000 to 220,000 tons for a 120- 

 percent increase. 



Industrial wastes are growing at a rate of 4.5 percent annually or 

 three times the population growth. Many of these wastes are harmful 

 or toxic to marine life, hazardous to human health, have gravely dam- 

 aged the shellfish industry, and are destroying the esthetic beauty and 

 use of recreational areas. 



The volume of wastes can only increase as existing facilities decrease. 

 Landfill sites are becoming scarce or are being outlawed. Escalating 

 costs from land-based methods of disposal are further encouraging 

 dumping in our oceans. 



The destruction to our shellfish industry by dumping of wastes is 

 appalling. The Council stated that pollution from these dumpings 

 had closed at least 20 percent of the Nation's shellfish beds. Affected 

 shellfish had been found to contain hepatitis, polio virus and other 

 pathogens hazardous to human health. 



The economic effect, aside from obvious and dangerous health liaz- 

 ards, has been devastating. The National Estuarine Pollution Study, 

 conducted by the Federal Water Quality Administration in 1970, 

 noted that the annual commercial harvest of soft-shelled clams was 

 between 100,000 to 300,000 pounds before 1935. This clam digging is 

 virtually nonexistent because of pollution. 



The annual commercial landings of the shrimp fishery before 1936 

 were as high as 6.5 million pounds. Landings in 1965 were only 10,000 

 pounds. 



The potential value of the U.S. shellfish catch in 1969 was $320 

 million. As a result of increased pollution in ocean and coastal waters, 

 the actual value in 1969 was $257 million, a $63 million loss in this 

 specific industry alone from the effects of ocean-dumping wastes. 



Commercial fisheries, of course, are on the decline with the resultant 

 loss in business and jobs. Pollution caused by dumping has wiped 

 out many fishing grounds and sent LTnited States commercial fleets 

 to distant waters. 



A side effect of this situation has been the overfishing of prime 

 grounds for such species as tuna and salmon. The supply of salmon 

 particularly is in peril from huge foreign fishing fleets that liave 

 found their feeding grounds in the North Atlantic. 



In assessing the damage to fishing, we should not overlook sports- 

 fishing. 



Millions of sports fishermen can attest to the dwindling supplies 

 of ocean fish. At a time when we are attempting to increase recreational 

 activities, the sport of fishing is being hit hard by the pollution of 

 rivers, bays, and coastal waters. 



Specifically, in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware area I cite 

 the virtual disappearance of the croaker which once roamed the Dela- 

 ware Bay and even the lower Delaware River in vast quantities. Once 

 the prime fish for anglers in those waters, the croaker no longer is 

 available for sports fishing or commercial fishing in the Delaware 

 Bay. It is a rare occasion when a fisherman catches a croaker in these 

 waters. 



