309 



Hi^h fertility persists from low salinities in small headwaters to the 

 full salinities at the mouth under the Skyway Bridge, The Florida 

 red tide is a recurring phytoplankton bloom of a dinoflagellate Gym- 

 nodinmm hreve that is poisonous to fish. This red water develops fish- 

 killing blooms in high-salinity waters off the west coast of Florida and 

 sometimes within the lower bay. The relationshij:) of the fertile bay 

 culture waters to the red tide outside is still uncertain and under study. 

 However, the high fertility has not destroyed the general middle salin- 

 ity characteristics of the ecosystem of the main bay where oysters, 

 copepods, pinfish, and young shrimp are abundant. Much of the area 

 has been disturbed in dredging and filling although there are still 

 large areas of shallow ecosystems that serve as fertile nurseries 

 riV-6-9). 



Examples of severe modification and the resulting multiple stressed 

 systems could be multiplied many times. The point is that nearly every 

 trend noted in the socioeconomic environment in the recent past, and 

 in the future, indicates that much of the estuarine zone is likely to 

 receive these multiple man-caused stresses. Thus, the estuarine ecologi- 

 cal system of the future appears likely, if past use trends continue, to 

 be characterized by a new emerging "stinko" environment. Clearly, 

 reliance upon existing use, management, planning, economic restraints, 

 and technology to provide solutions to this trend are inadequate. It 

 is essential that the socioeconomic and institutional environments be 

 mobilized to reverse this seemingly inexorable destruction of the irre- 

 placeable estuarine ecologies of the Nation. 



Section 4. Resolution of Use Conflicts 



Use damage and ecological disasters are not necessary features of 

 civilization in the estuarine zone, but use conflicts will continue to exist 

 as more and more demands are made on the natural environment. The 

 ability of any management authority to prevent use damage and to 

 resolve use conflicts depends not only upon its institutional composi- 

 tion and legal authority, but also upon the social, economic, and bio- 

 physical characteristics of the estuarine management unit within its 

 authority is exercised. 



The analyses of social and economic values of the estuarine zone 

 examined concurrently with the similar analyses of use conflicts, pol- 

 lutional effects, and use damages form the basis for this discussion of 

 those means by which use conflicts can be resolved through the applica- 

 tion of technical knowledge, i.e., technical management. 



The primary objective of technical management is to accommodate 

 the needed and desired uses of any estuarine management unit within 

 that system without overall damage to the biophysical environment. 

 The ability to achieve this objective depends on the boundaries of the 

 management unit and upon the means available for resolving both 

 prohibitive use conflicts and restrictive use conflicts. 



MANAGEMENT UNIT BOUNDARIES 



The impact of the social and economic requirements of civilization 

 on the natural estuarine environment is the technical problem with 

 which management must deal, and effective control of this impact can 

 be maintained only i'f both the major sources of damage and the geo- 

 graphic range of their influence are subject to unified control. 



