Ch. 6— Environmental Considerations • 233 



Photo credit: Southern California Coastal Research Project Authority 



Coastal regions are the most biologically productive 



areas of the ocean. Because offshore mining is most 



likely to occur here first, care must be taken to avoid 



areas important for fisheries. 



exists on reclamation, this option will not be 

 considered below. 



Information from many existing environmental 

 studies*^''' can be combined to characterize the 



"National Ocean Service, Office of Oceanography and Marine 

 Assessment, Ocean Assessments Division, Strategic Assessments 

 Branch, Coastal and Ocean Zones, Strategic Assessment: Data Atlas. 

 The atlases consist of maps covering a range of topics on physical and 

 biological environments (geology, surface temperatures, and aquatic 

 vegetation); living marine resources (species of invertebrates, fishes, 

 birds, and mammals); economic activities (population distribution and 

 seafood production); environmental quality (oil and grease dischcirge); 

 and jurisdictions (political boundaries and environmental quality man- 

 agement areas). The Eastern United States Adas (125 maps) was pub- 

 lished by the Department of Commerce in 1980; it is now out-of-print. 

 The Gulf of Mexico Adas (163 four-color maps) was printed by the 

 U.S Government Printing Office in 1985. The Bering, Chulichi, and 

 Beaufort Seas Adas (127 maps) will be printed early in 1987. The 

 West Coast and Gulf of Alaska Adas is scheduled for 1988 publication. 



areas of prime ecological concern. Dredging and 

 mining operations can then avoid prime fish and 

 shellfish areas especially during times of reproduc- 

 tion and migration. The OTA Workshop on Envi- 

 ronmental Concerns stressed that a compendium 

 of such information should be developed; currendy, 

 there are many sources of data^^ housed in differ- 

 ent agencies or institutions, but it is difficult to com- 

 pare or combine them. 



Historically, the dredging industry has empha- 

 sized increasing production rather than reducing 

 sediment in the water column or minimizing dam- 

 age to the environment. Information on particu- 

 late levels and other effects caused by different 

 dredge designs exists (see table 6-1). U.S. Army 

 Corps of Engineers field studies indicate that the 

 cutterhead dredge produces most of its turbidity 

 near the bottom, as does the hopper dredge with- 



A national atlas of 20 maps on the health and use of coastal waters 

 of the U.S. is also being produced by NOAA. The first five are: Ocean 

 Disposal Sites, Estuarine Systems, Oil Production, Dredging Activi- 

 ties, and NOAA's National Status and Trends Program. Future maps 

 are scheduled on hazardous waste sites, marine mammals, fisheries 

 management areas, and other similar topics. 



♦'U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service Bio- 

 logical Services Program: "Gulf Coast Ecological Inventory, User's 

 Guide and Information Base." August 1982; "Pacific Coast Ecolog- 

 ical Inventory, User's Guide and Information Base," October 1981; 

 and "Atlantic Coast Ecological Inventory, User's Guide and Infor- 

 mation Base," September 1980. 



"Marine EcoSystems Analysis Program (MESA), New York Bight 

 Atlas Monograph Series, New York Bight Project, New York Sea 

 Grant Institute, Albany, 1975, especially Monographs 13-15 ("Plank- 

 ton Systematics and Distribution" T. Malone, "Benthic Fauna" by 

 J.B. Pearce and D. Radosh, and "Fish Distribution" M.D. Gross- 

 lein and T.R.A. Zarovitz"). 



"U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Serv- 

 ice, "Proposed 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

 Program, Mid-1987 to Mid-1992," Final Environmental Impact State- 

 ment, Volumes I and II, January 1987. There are 22 planning areas 

 for oil and gas development within the U.S. For each area, informa- 

 tion has been collected on biological species, geologic and chemical 

 conditions, physical oceanography, and socio-economic conditions. 

 About $400 million has gone into the Environmental Studies Program 

 since 1973. Hundreds of papers and reports have been published as 

 a result; these are listed and summarized in Environmental Studies 

 Index, OCS Report 86-0020, U.S. Department of the Interior, 

 Minerals Management Service, 1986. 



™B.L. Freeman and L.A. Walford, Anglers' Guide to the United 

 States Adantic Coast, Fish, Fishing Grounds and Fishing Facilities, 

 prepared for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Seattle, WA, July 

 1976. 



"Scripps Institution of Oceanography, California Cooperative 

 Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI), A-027. The distributions 

 of species in the California Current Region are mapped in a 30-volume 

 atlas series. This series is one of the few long-term monitoring studies 

 of a large region; records are available from 1949 to the present day. 



"Besides the large studies cited here, there are many regional, state, 

 and local studies. 



