213 



Despite the fact that the estuarine environment supplies relatively 

 unique resources which attract many primary and secondary activities, 

 the greater part of economic activity, particularly in the relatively 

 mature economies of the Northeast, Middle Atlantic, and west coasts, 

 is not directly dependent on the natural resources of the estuarine en- 

 vironment. The service sectors of the economy dominate most of these 

 marginal activities and range from garbage collection to construction 

 of oilice buildings. Many other marginal activities are drawn to the 

 land- water interface for esthetic reasons, such as -restaurants, hotels, 

 and specialty shops. The resulting mix of many economic activities, 

 with significant variations in proportional makeup of primary, sec- 

 ondary, and marginal activity, characterize the dominant urban- 

 suburban environment which exists and will increase in the estuarine 

 zone and coastline of the Nation. 



Trends and projections for marine fisheries, transportation and na- 

 tional defense, marine mining and processing, recreation, and waste 

 discharge are presented here. "Wliere appropriate, the discussion of 

 these subjects is related to the biophysical regions and OBE estuarine 

 economic areas. 



MARINE FISHERIES 



The Nation's fishing industry has been widely characterized as rela- 

 tively undeveloped in management and operation, inferior to the com- 

 peting fishing fleets of other nations in technology, under-capitalized, 

 and relatively weak in respect to both the national economy and to 

 foreign competition. This consensus of opinion is supported by nu- 

 merous comparative statistics. 



The industry has grown relatively slowly in productivity over the 

 years. From 1925 through 1966, the quantity of catch increased by only 

 60 percent. During the same period, the rise in the amount paid to 

 fishermen for their catch was only slightly higher, increasing some- 

 thing less than 100 percent. In fact, the average annual catch per 

 fisherman has remained below the 1957-59 average since 1964, 



Tlie Industrial fishery 



Industrial uses of commercial fish, rather than human consumptive 

 uses have accounted for most of the increase in tonnage in the recent 

 past, as indicated in figure IV.4.11. This trend is particularly evident 

 in the more recent period between 1961 and 1966. Industrial uses of 

 marine fish are primarily for fish oils, fish solubles, and fish meal. 

 These basic products are used mainly for industrial processing, pet 

 food, agricultural feed (particularly for chickens), and fertilizers. 



The primary species caught for industrial use is the menhaden, an 

 estuarine-dependent fish. Productive areas for this fish have been the 

 Middle Atlantic, Chesapeake, South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico bio- 

 physical regions. Production in the Middle Atlantic region has de- 

 creased markedly in recent years, and the catch in the Chesapeake Bay 

 has fluctuated. Fishing pressure for menhaden in all regions has in- 

 tensified, and may have reached the point of overharvest in some 

 localized areas. This pressure has continued despite declines in the 

 wholesale price for fishmeal partly brought on by foreign competition, 

 particularly from anchovies from the Humboldt Current grounds off 

 Peru. F'.rrnre IV.4.12 indicates the growing foreign share of the in- 

 dustrial fish catch. 



