WELCOME 
by 
Dr. James Thomas 
Estuarine Programs Office 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
U.S. Department Commerce 
Washington, D.C. 
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you on behalf of the NOAA 
Estuarine Programs Office and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the fourth 
Estuary-of-the-Month Seminar, entitled Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay: Issues, 
Resources, Status and Management. The purpose of these seminars is to focus attention 
on one estuary at a time, elucidating multiple-use impacts, resources at risk, status and 
trends of an estuary (particularly as a habitat), status and trends of the fisheries, and the 
resources, economics, and management of a particular estuary. 
Estuaries are where humans come in most intimate contact with the marine 
environment with regard to commerce, recreation, and fisheries. Nearly 50 percent of 
the Nation lives within 20 miles of the coast or around the Great Lakes. In 1984, total 
commercial landings of fisheries amounted to $2.5 billion; 70 percent of this amount was 
derived from estuarine-dependent fisheries. 
Thus, it is appropriate that we bring experts here today to inform us of what 
was, what is, and what we might do in terms of management for our nation's estuaries. I 
am pleased to welcome Drs. Betsy Brown and Paul Boehm here today from the Battelle 
New England Marine Research Laboratory located in Duxbury, Massachusetts. I would 
particularly like to thank them for organizing today's seminar. Dr. Brown is a benthic 
ecologist specializing in estuarine and marine environmental monitoring. Dr. Boehm is a 
noted marine organic chemist. Both are knowledgeable experts on Boston Harbor and 
Massachusetts Bay. They will take charge of today's program, including the panel 
discussion at the end of the day. 
I encourage everyone to stay through the panel discussion in order that we 
might learn what data and information gaps exist and what we might do to help improve 
the management of our Nation's estuaries for the mutual benefit of fisheries, commerce 
and recreation. 
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