Full document / COSOC-W-86-002 - the National Sea Grant Library

Estuarine andCoastalManagement - Toolsofthe
Trade. Proceedingsof theTenthNationalConference
ofThe CoastalSociety. October 12-15.1986. New
Orleans,LA. Copyrightby TheCoastalSociety
1987.
Introduction
RESTORING CHESAPEAKE BAY LIVING RESOURCES
Bert S. Brun
Senior Staff Specialist
VS. Hsh and Wildlife Service
Amapolu, MD 21401
Restoring Chesapeake Bay Living Resources
Chesapeake Bay's legendary "bounty" has dwindled alarmingly, especially
over the last ten to twenty years. This decline has been Judged in
large part attributable to nan-related causes, in particular, degraded
waters. Accordingly, the last decade has seen a well funded, determined
attempt to try to better understand, and then ameliorate, poor water
quality in the Bay. This paper presents a methodology which Is Intended
to be used to develop realizable goals for both water quality and the
key speclos dependent upon it.
Resources at Risk
A nunber of species in Che troubled Chesapeake Bay ecosystem are
typically singled out as experiencing great difficulty. Anadrooous
fishes as a group are characterized by the coooon necessity of their
young requiring high quality fresh or brackish water. Some of these are
highly prized, coaaerctally. The Atlantic sturgeon, once the mainstay
of early Chesapeake area colonists Cslong with oysters), has been a
rarity for some tine, but other species, perhaps hardier, have been more
abundant until recently. The striped bass fishery has become so
troubled as to warrant a current complete harvesting ban In Maryland and
a partial one in Virginia. American shad, affected by river dams as
well as poor water quality, are also harvest banned, in Maryland.
Another important snadromous fish, the forage species rivor herring, is
also down in numbers.
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