299 



For the total area of Penobscot Bay affected by the recent shellfish 

 area closures, the estimated population was placed at 96,000 bushels 

 of marketable soft clams, valued from a community standpoint (note: 

 this is the concept used in other case studies as the expanded 

 value * * * it is generally 2.5 to 7 times the dockside or landing value) 

 at $1,876,000 to $5,216,400. Potential harvest during a second season 

 was estimated to be 46,200 bushels. These would have a value to the 

 community of from $896,800 to $2,494,800. 



DAMAGE TO SHELLFISH HABITAT 



Great Bay^ N.H. 



Two documents provided the information for this case study: 

 "Coastal Watershed" by the New Hampshire Water Pollution Com- 

 mission, July 1965, staff report No. 51, and "A Biological Survey of 

 Great Bay, New Hampshire by the Marine Fisheries Commission, 

 No. 1, Physical and Biological Features of Great Bay and the Present 

 Status of its Marine Resources," C. F. Jackson, director. Biological 

 Institute, University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H., March 1944. 



Historical data indicate that the Great Bay area was at one time 

 especially rich in natural resources, such as salmon, shad, cod, and 

 various shellfish. Rapid decline or ultimate disappearance of many of 

 these food fishes dates from the beginning of the industrial 

 development of this region about 1800. 



Great Bay and the tidal rivers afford some 2,815 acres of potential 

 clam flats. Most of these are nonproductive due to pollution, silt, or 

 the growth of Spartina. The situation in reference to oysters parallels 

 closely that of clams. In early days the oyster fisheries probably 

 exceeded in commercial importance those of the clam. In later years, 

 however, this situation has been reversed, due first, to the growing 

 scarcity of the oyster, and secondly, to restrictive legislation. 



Clams and oysters were once harvested in Great Bay Estuary. In 

 1938 the estuary was closed to the commercial production of clams due 

 to bacterial pollution. In his biological survey of Great Bay in 1944, 

 C. F. Jackson estimated a loss of $2 million annually on clams in 

 Great Bay. Thus, with no commercial utilization of clams in Great 

 Bay over the last 30 years, a loss can be calculated at $60 million since 

 it is based on a per bushel value of $1.50 and the 1944 price of clams. 

 The current per bushel price of clams in the New England area is 

 nearly $10. Thus the loss, dockside, may be nearly seven times greater 

 or nearly $420 million since 1938. Oyster production in Great Bay 

 Estuary has also been closed commercially since 1938. A recent survey 

 estimated the total acreage of oyster beds at roughly 25 acres in Great 

 Bay. At a production of 500 bushels per acre, this would result in a 

 loss of 12,500 bushels annually. Oysters at $10 per bushel would then 

 bring in $125,000 annually. Over the 30-year period since harvesting 

 has been closed this loss due to pollution amounts to nearly $4 million. 



All tributaries of Great Bay are dammed. Many of these dams have 

 existed since 1800 and provide a block for fish such as salmon, alewives, 

 and American shad, which need freshwater areas to complete their life 

 cycles. The lost value of such fisheries over the years would run into 

 many millions of dollars to both commercial and, more recently, sport 

 fishermen. It should be pointed out that no definite estimate of this 

 loss has been made but it is definitely measurable. 



