The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration

Environmental Protection Agency recognizes the Chesapeake Bay as a damaged ecological community in which millions were spent on research in efforts to save and restore this national treasure and few developments have been proven to be successful, “these actions included upgrading sewage treatment plants, controlling urban runoff, controlling manure and fertilizer runoff, reducing soil erosion, issuing stricter discharge permits, and banning the use of phosphorous detergents.” (Atkins & Anderson, 2003). In partnership, the Chesapeake Bay Program has also made progress in restoring and protecting the Chesapeake Bay. Its efforts include reducing pollution, restoring habitats, managing fisheries, protecting watersheds and fostering stewardship. This program has also set goals in relation to “wetlands, submerged grasses, nutrient reduction, toxins, sustainable development, and citizen involvement.” (Atkins & Anderson, 2003).

An issue that was present in few specific cities in Maryland have now expanded throughout the entire state. The Chesapeake Bay, a large estuary that has an extremely complex ecosystem that is vital to important habitats and food webs in this area. The Chesapeake bay is arguably one of the most productive environments in the United States. Over the years, this bay has been in a decline of wellness. Pollution, contaminants, and many other factors are destroying the overall well being of these waters, and completely messing up the important ecosystem that has been built there. Although there is an extreme amount of Marylanders fighting for the restoration of the Chesapeake, there are also who are not.

Economic activity and our environment have been closely linked since man first discovered the concept of trade. In the language of economics, the environment has itself, become an increasingly “scarce resource1”. Since economics is about managing these scarce resources, it will be a useful tool when considering some of the environmental issues facing our planet. One of the major concerns confronting the environment today is the overfishing of the world’s oceans, depleting some species to near extinction. With continued advances in technological and industrial proficiency, fishing vessels are able to fish across the globe, further exacerbating the effects of overfishing. Because the oceans are considered a shared or common

While these numbers are encouraging, environmentalist and the fishing industry have different ideas and techniques that they believe will solve the problem to benefit all. However, all agree that there should be better resource management to avoid the most devastating effects that come from overfishing. Regardless of which measure is taken, it is clear that measures need to be taken now in order to preserve the ocean’s delicate

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. About half of the Bay’s water volume comes from salt water from the Atlantic Ocean. The other half drains into the Bay from its enormous 64,000-square-mile watershed. Estuaries are among the most productive environments on earth, creating more organic matter each year than similarly-sized forests and agricultural areas. Estuaries also provide diverse habitats for wildlife and aquatic life, protect our communities against flooding, reduce pollution of waterways, and support local economies through commercial and recreational activities. Thousands of species

The importance of the Chesapeake Bay is introduced. The bay is home to a large amount of seafood businesses, and many people fish the bay and its tributaries for sport. Grass beds are essential to many of the organisms living in this ecosystem, but are being destroyed by pollution. Agriculture involves more than a fourth of the bay's watershed. This makes agricultural runoff a big focus. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus causes eutrophication. These nutrients come from pesticides and sewage also. A goal was set in 1985 to cut back the percent of nutrients being put into the bay by these two sources. It is thought that redirecting the flow of soil with nutrients in them will reduce the runoff, but if the nutrients seep into groundwater they still get into the Chesapeake Bay. Farmers have ways to help reduce these nutrient levels, but it is not the cheapest way to farm, so not all farmers are doing their part to save the bay. Another contributor of runoff land development. Runoff can occur from exposed land being prepared to be developed, or because of what has been used to replace what used to naturally be.

An estuary system is “the resulting collisions of sweet and salt-fresh river water flowing seaward and ocean water inland.” It is an aquatic system where salt and freshwater are constantly mixing. An estuary system is one of most active systems of the planet; it is a hybrid system that contains the best and worst qualities of the ocean, river, and lake systems it conglomerates. Estuaries are unique in nature because of their ability to be the most productive ecosystem on the entire planet; humans have attempted and failed to reach the productivity that estuaries naturally grant. There productivity lies it the constant change that occurs from the conflicting flows of fresh and ocean water. Ocean and freshwater are measured largely based on salinity, or the level of parts of salt per thousand. Ocean water usually

On March 21st, our class went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The purpose of this trip was not only to explore Earth’s natural habitat’s, but it was also to gather information on our upcoming project and to gather information on how the community of St.Mary, affects the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The answer that we found out is one based off of what we eat. The Monterey Bay Aquarium released an app where it showed which type of seafood were lower in numbers than others. So, if plankton were very low in numbers, it is advised that we not fish for them or not eat as much of it. This shows based just off of what we eat, we can affect the numbers of in the ocean. Also, those plastic bags we buy at Target and Walmart, that we drop outside, drifts itself to the streams, which flow to rivers, which go to oceans, they are floating there, not doing much harm, until sea turtle comes by starts eating it, but gets tangled and choked in it, dies.

There is a population of more then eight million residents in this region and millions more congregate there every year for recreational purposes (Tedesco). The commercial opportunities of the Long Island Sound are vast. It has been estimated that about ?$5 billion is generated annually in the regional economy from boating, commercial and sport fishing, swimming, and beach going? (Long Island Sound Study). There are many other benefits from the uses of the sound, cargo shipping, ferry transportation, and power generation are just a few of them. In addition, recreational and commercial fishing provides a generous living in the Sound. Shell fishers bring in plentiful harvests of clams, oysters, and lobsters from the waters. The ideal clamming conditions provided by the sound are world renown. These conditions provide Long Island residents with an essential economic resource (Tedesco). The Long Island Sound provides some crucial components for these Long Island residents that it is considered among the most important and valuable estuaries in the world. Moreover, it has been remarked ?The Long Island Sound?s intrinsic value as a natural value and a natural resource is worth protecting and preserving for future generations? (Long Island Sound Study).

Oyster reefs, giant populations of oysters, provide habitats for many other types of organisms such as worms, snails, sea squirts, sponges, small crabs, and fishes.

The word Chesapeake, although there is some scholarly dispute, likely means “Great Bay of Shells” or “Great Shellfish Bay” in the language of the Algonquian Native Americans (“Oyster History”). This translation is appropriate and accurate to anyone familiar with the Chesapeake Bay and its rich history of oysters. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States with over 150 rivers and streams flow into its basin. It measures roughly 200 miles in length, 3.4 to 35 miles in width and stretches across six states. The bay is home to over 2,700 plant and animal species, making it one of the most complex and productive estuary systems in the world (“Facts and Figures”). However, one species of animal stands out above the rest in its value and legacy to the Chesapeake region: the eastern oyster.

Chesapeake Bay, the largest North American estuary, where many watermen have successfully made a living by harvesting the plentiful amounts of seafood. Each year, millions of people are attracted to the bay for the different recreational activities that include hunting, fishing, and boating; this alone greatly contributes to the economy of Maryland. The professional fishermen here rely on large populations of these sea creatures to thrive, and remain large in number. If these numbers were to drop due to lack of food, caused by water pollution, then the fishermen that capture these creatures for a living, would begin to struggle to support their families. One way that the food source of these animals would dramatically decrease, would happen

Some of those things are Fishing, Pollution, Eutrophication, introduced species, ocean acidification, and anything else that humans put in the water can affect that ecosystem. One thing we take from this ecosystem that is common is fishes according to an article titled Human Impacts on Marine Environments it states “ Humans living near the coast have probably always used the ocean as a source of food. However, with advances in fishing equipment, larger ships and new tracking technologies, many fish stocks around the world have reduced significantly.” which means that there is less and less everyday.

Marine Environmental Ethics.-- Human actions show that our marine environmental ethics are less advanced than the ones we have on land (Stokstad, 2003). There are three main sources of evidence that prove this. The first is ocean dumping, or waste disposal into the ocean. Before 1972, it was believed the ocean had an “unlimited capacity to mix and disperse wastes” (Gunther, 2017). The ocean became a dumping ground for chemical and industrial wastes for decades, leading to severe consequences. Little attention was given to the negative impacts ocean dumping had on marine environments. While this also occurs on land, it is done on a much smaller scale. Another source of evidence for our lacking marine environmental ethics comes from the shortage

The fourth way to look at estuaries is by a food web. By looking at the food web this aids in understanding what kind of organisms live in the estuaries. The food web with the primary producers is present. The primary producers can include any range of life from phytoplankton, benthic algae, submersed sea grasses, and mangroves. The primary producers can decompose and create their own food web called detrital food web. If the primary producers do not decomposed, they are grazed on by zooplankton.