Figure 2.11. White shrimp production in Sabine Lake, Texas (1962-1986) before and after the Sabine and Neches Rivers 
were dammed in 1966 compared with landings in Galveston Bay and Lake Calcasieu, Louisiana (56). 
Habitat Alteration 
The linkage between abundance of (and access to) wetlands and system productivity has been 
discussed. Just where does Galveston Bay fall when habitat protection is mentioned? In 1979, the 
estuary was surrounded by approximately 715 square kilometers of wetlands (determined from 
maps in 15). Wetlands losses between surveys in 1956 and 1979, whether natural or due to human 
activities, have been severe (15). In the Marsh Point area of East Bay, subsidence and petroleum 
exploration canals led to a 26 percent loss of salt and brackish marsh to open water. Jones Bay, at the 
northeast end of West Bay, suffered a 37 percent loss of marsh area due to housing development and 
its location on the edge of one of the two major subsidence cones in the Houston area. At the mouth 
of the San Jacinto River, subsidence has caused a 42 percent reduction of fresh marshes and swamps. 
Sea grasses and other submerged vegetation, primarily found in West Bay but never very extensive, 
have declined precipitously by 95 percent on a baywide basis. Galveston Island itself has lost 37 
percent of its wetlands due to housing projects and industrialization (62). For the entire estuary, a net 
loss of 16 percent of the vegetated wetlands occurred during the period 1956 through 1979. A 
complete system inventory is needed to determine what has transpired in the last eight years, a 
period during which Houston experienced a rapid population growth. 
Conclusion 
Given all the above information, a distillation of the material leads to three important facts to 
remember concerning the health of the Galveston Bay biota: 
48 
