205 



will continue in the relatively mature Middle Atlantic biophysical re- 

 gion, while significant expansion will occur in the Gulf of Mexico and 

 Pacific biophysical reg'ions. Marked differences will occur, however, 

 in the smaller a.reas making up these biophysical regions, both in eco- 

 nomic activity and population distribution. 



FUTURE DISTRIBUTION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN THE BIOPHYSICAL 



REGIONS 



Economic activities vary greatljr throughout the estuarine zone. The 

 principal determinants of economic activity have been the location of 

 natural resources historic circumstances, availability of substantial 

 markets, and changes in technology. 



The North Atlantic and Middle Atlantic hiophysical regions 



The New England marine States saw the country's first economic 

 development. Basic resources defined the parameters of activity — for- 

 ests, fish, fur, and farmlands. Shipbuilding and trade flourished around 

 major centers of oceangoing transportation. The major metropolitan 

 areas of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia developed around those 

 endeavors. Their presence led to further expansion from Massachu- 

 setts to New Jersey. Today four of the five OBE economic areas 

 fronting on the North and Middle Atlantic biophysical regions (with 

 the exception of the Maine coast) have become considerably less de- 

 pendent on the forests and fisheries and have developed into diversified, 

 mature economies, increasingly service providing rather than goods 

 producing in character. 



Maine's continuing dependence on the natural resources of fisheries 

 and forests, and on its location in the coastal zone, is indicated by high 

 relative concentrations of transportation equipment manufacturing 

 excluding motor vehicles (mainly shipbuilding), paper and allied 

 products industries, and forestry and fisheries activities. These concen- 

 trations are noticeably higher in the Maine coastal area than in the 

 other four associated areas in the North and Middle Atlantic biophysi- 

 cal regions. 



The other OBE estuarine economic areas in the North and Middle 

 Atlantic biophysical regions exhibit economic activity that is more 

 closely related to supplying the sophisticated and diverse demands of 

 urban markets. All economic areas in these regions, however, are 

 highly dependent on the estuaries for port facilities to move the goods 

 produced within their boundaries. In the case of the Philadelphia-New 

 Jersey-Delaware coast, the combination of large nearby markets and 

 adequate port facilities has combined to stimulate a large petroleum 

 refining and chemicals industry, even through the raw materials for 

 those manufactures must be imported. 



The Chesapeake Bay biophysical region 



Tlie OBE economic area of the Maryland- Virginia coast corresponds 

 to the Chesapeake Bay biophysical region. Although some of the earli- 

 est settlements occurred adjacent to the bay and its related rivers, the 

 area's economy has developed later than those located in the North and 

 Middle Atlantic regions. However, the area has followed the pattern 

 of beginning witli extractive industries built upon the coastal natural 

 resources of agriculture, forests and fisheries, and then proceeding 



