116 



TABLE IV.2.1.— ESTUARINE DEPENDENCE OF IMPORTANT SPORT AND COMMERCIAL FISH 



Sports fish : Type of dependence 



Biophysical region 



Permanent residence 



Passage zone 



Nursery zone 



North Atlantic. . . 



Middle Atlantic. 



Chesapeake 



South Atlantic... 



Caribbean.. 



Gulf of Mexico... 



Pacific Southwest. 

 Pacific Northwest. 



Alaska 



Pacific Islands... 



Croaker, Atlantic mackerel, blue- Atlantic salmon, shad Striped bass. 



fish. 

 Croaker, drums, Atlantic mack- Shad Do. 



ere!, spot, bluefish. 

 Crabs, croaker, drums, spot, do Do. 



bluefish. 

 Crabs, croaker, drums, spotted do... Do. 



sea trout, spot, bluefish. 



Spotted sea trout, spot, bluefish _ 



Crabs, croaker, drums, spotted Shad. _ Striped bass. 



sea trout, spot, bluefish. 



Abalone, rockfish, barracuda _ 



Abalone, rockfish _ Salmon (chum, coho. Pink salmon. 



king, red). 



Crabs. do Do. 



Barracuda 



Commercial fish: Type of dependence 



Biophysical region 



Permanent residence 



Passage zone 



Nursery zone 



North Atlantic. 

 Middle Atlantic. 

 Chesapeake 



South Atlantic 



Caribbean 



Gulf of Mexico 



Pacific Southwest. 

 Pacific Northwest. 



Alaska 



Pacific islands. 



Oysters, clams, croaker, flatfish... Atlantic salmon, eel Menhaden, lobsters. 



do Eel Menhaden. 



Oysters, clams, crabs, croaker, do Do. 



flatfish. 



Oysters, crabs, croaker, flatfish do Shrimp, menhaden. 



Flatfish Lobsters. 



Oysters, crabs, croaker, flatfish Shrimp, menhaden. 



Clams, abalone, flatfish 



Oysters, abalone, crabs, flatfish. . . Salmon (chum, coho. Pink salmon, 



king, red). 



Crabs, flatfish do Shrimp, pink salmon. 



Oysters, flatfish Lobsters. 



Figure IV.2.1 illustrates the geographic ranges of some of the estu- 

 arine-dependent sport and commercial fish throughout the United 

 States, and many of these different kinds of sports fish can be caught 

 as one goes from salt water to fresh water within an estuary (fig. 

 IV.2.2) . Fishermen have nearly as much variety as the fish they catch, 

 as figure IV.2.3 demonstrates. Even the ocean fisheries are to some 

 extent related to the estuarine zone, because most fishing and the most 

 productive fishing grounds are close to continents. Latitudinal ranges 

 of some maior commercial fish off U.S. coasts are shown in figure 

 IV.2.4. 



WILDUFE 



Estuarine wildlife can be classified into four categories with differ- 

 ing economic significance : (1) fur bearing mammals, (2) game water- 

 fowl, (3) ornamental shore birds, and (4) the comnion wildlife that 

 can tolerate human presence. The relative abundance of some charac- 

 teristic species in the biophysical regions is discussed below. 



Fii/r hearers 



The primary estuarine fur bearers are the fur seal in Alaska, nutria 

 in the South Atlantic and Gulf States, the common eastern muskrat 

 in New Jersey, the Virginia muskrat in the Central Atlantic States, 

 and the Louisiana muskrat in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 

 Texas. Secondary in importance are the racc(X)n, mink, and otter. 



