Estuaries & Coastal Wetlands
America’s estuaries are the bays, sounds, gulfs, harbors, lagoons, inlets and deltas where fresh water from rivers flows into and mixes with the salt water from the ocean. This mixing of fresh and salt water creates a unique environment that brims with life of all kinds -- a transition zone between the land and sea. The estuary gathers and holds an abundance of life-giving nutrients from the land and from the ocean, forming a rich ecosystem containing a diversity of life. Estuaries and coastal wetlands also play a role in “ecosystem services.” That is, they assist in purification of water and the recycling and breakdown of wastes that may otherwise flow into our oceans.
Estuaries are critical to the vitality of coastal ecosystems and essential to the Nation's economy. In addition to providing essential habitat for 75 percent of our commercial fish catch, estuaries are visited by and are a vacation destination for over 190 million Americans every year -- nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population. Commercial and recreational fishing, boating and tourism also provide more than 28 million jobs. Fishing alone generates $111 billion yearly in economic activity. From Chesapeake Bay crabbers to Louisiana shrimpers, many generations of people in our nation’s coastal communities have depended on estuaries for their livelihood.
Ebb and flow – destruction and restoration of estuaries. Since European settlement, our Nation has lost more than 6 million acres of coastal wetlands. In our coastal states, roughly 55 million acres of wetlands – more than half – have been destroyed. As our country’s population increases, more people are moving to the coasts. With more people living on the coast, stresses on estuaries and coastal wetlands can also increase. Some of these stresses are:
- Habitat loss from dredging, draining, bulldozing or paving for new business or housing development.
- Polluted runoff and sewage discharges from rural, suburban, and urban areas create "hot spots" of toxic contamination where nothing can live.
- Dams block upstream and downstream migration of fish. Healthy streams allocate nutrients and provide vital spawning and feeding areas for migrating fish.
The conservation goal is to help rebuild a healthy, functioning system that works as it did before it was polluted or destroyed. Habitat restoration results in increases in estuary habitats, as measured both by acreage and by ability to support fish and wildlife. Restoration activities in estuaries range from the simple to the complex. They include baseline assessments, performance standards, and long-term monitoring and conservation plans; the reconstruction of physical and hydrologic conditions through engineered activities; the chemical cleanup of toxic substances; and revegetation of an area through native plantings or natural regrowth. Local restoration projects include restoring salt marsh plants, reclaiming native fish runs by installing fish ladders, replanting eelgrass beds, and building and seeding oyster reefs.