30 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 10 



haden, sea herring, summer flounder, and 

 whiting spawn offshore and later move to in- 

 shore and estuarine waters. Anadromous 

 fish of the North Atlantic coast such a ale- 

 wife, American shad, and striped bass move 

 through the estuaries to fresh water to spawn. 



Looking at the broader picture, we find 

 that in a recent typical year the seafood land- 

 ings of the Atlantic coast were 2.2 billion 

 pounds; of the Gulf coast, 1.4 billion; and of 

 the Pacific coast (exclusive of Hawaii), 1.1 

 billion pounds. The total was 4.7 billion 

 pounds, worth $362 million. 



sume, the impressive point is that about two- 

 thirds of both the catch and the landed value 

 of this seafood is absolutely dependent upon 

 estuaries. 



Then there is the sport fishing interest. 

 At present one of my associates in Washing- 

 ton is vacationing on the Atlantic coast. I 

 asked if he was going fishing. The answer 

 was, "night and day.' 



As long ago as 1960 it was reported that 

 along the Atlantic coast over three million 

 fishermen spent more than one -third billion 



Fig, 



3 - Jones Beach on Long Island is part of area threatened by industry, booming population, and pollution. 



(Photo by Jones Beach State Park Commission.) 



This is not impressive for a nation with a 

 gross national product of more than $700 bil- 

 lion, and it is not close to the domestic raw 

 materials values of forest products, miner- 

 als, and agriculture. It does not state the 

 value added to round -fish by processing, 

 packing, and marketing. But considering our 

 need for protein-rich foods and the fact that 

 we import about two -thirds of what we con- 



dollars on this type recreation. Considering 

 the many other personal uses and pleasures 

 of estuarine complexes, including waterfowl 

 hunting, bird watching, and other forms of en- 

 joyment of nature and beauty, and swimming, 

 boating, and water-skiing in some cases, one 

 wonders where the idea came from that estu- 

 aries are wastelands in need of "devel- 

 opment." 



