158 



The population of Rhode Island is mainly clustered about the shores 

 of Narragansett Bay. A special census in 1965 enumerated the total at 

 892,709 of which some 69 percent resided in towns and cities touching 

 the bay. The long term migration of the population appears in a grad- 

 ual movement from the upper bay towns to the lower bay towns. In 

 the total bay area, there are 69,160 areas of developed land and 115,039 

 areas of land with development potential. Table IV.3.6 shows the dis- 

 tribution of developed land. 



TABLE IV.3.6.— PERCENT OF USE BY CATEGORY OF DEVELOPED LAND, NARRAGANSETT BAY, R.I. 



Proportion in percent of 

 developed land 



Use Urban Rural 



Residential - 41.2 42.4 



Industrial-commercial --- 12.3 9.8 



Governments, institutions, or public utilities... 15.4 20.8 



Recreational .-. 9.9 9.3 



Roads and highways 21.2 17.7 



From colonial times, when perhaps the more important economic ac- 

 tivities were purely bay oriented (e.g., fishing and foreign trade), in- 

 dustry and trade has clustered about the bay and its tributaries 

 following the growth of population in these areas and the concurrent 

 growth of a pool of skilled labor. Within the total socioeconomic 

 environment of the area, seven estuarine-dependent product- producing 

 areas are examined to show some of the methods involved in deriving 

 a value for a given use. The categories include commercial fisheries, 

 defense establishments, recreation, bay transportation, marine-oriented 

 industry and commerce, research and education, and waste disposal. 



Table IV.3.7 shows the production, value and productivity of the 

 Narragansett Bay fisheries for 1939 and 1965. In order to illustrate the 

 former importance of a sj^ecies, the oyster is included although it is 

 no longer commercially important. 



There has been a reversal in the relative importance of the finfish- 

 eries and shellfisheries over the 25-year period due partially to the 

 decline in tlie oyster fishery resulting from the disappearance of the 

 wild oyster from Narragansett Bay for unknown reasons. Improve- 

 ment in finfishing methods together with a lack of improvement in 

 shellfishing methods have also contributed to this reversal. 



TABLE IV.3.7.— COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF NARRAGANSETT BAY 



Shellfish i 



Finfish Oysters Clams Total 



1939 



Fishermen 101 _ _.__ .,924 



Catch (pounds) 4,022,90» 2,313,500 2,197,900 5,147,200 



Catch... $122,808 $399,100 $250,600 $774,134 



Catch per fisherman (pounds) 38,830 - 5,571 



Gross value per fisherman $1,216 »n il 



Average annual price (per pound) $0.035 - $0.15 



1965 



Fishermen 116 .. „ ,„1'5JA 



Catch (pounds) . 9,809,700 11,500 2,297,300 2,695,000 



Catch. $835,202 $14,100 $1,062,700 $1,372,653 



Catch per fisherman (pounds) 85,302 «}>*ock 



Gross value per fisherman $7,263 tnlraa 



Average annual price (per pound)... $.085 $0,509 



' Meat weight only, except for lobsters which are live weight. 



