EPA Releases a Report on the Ecological Conditions of Estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 23, 1999--

EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has published a report today entitled, "The Ecological Conditions of Estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico."

This report is one in a series of "State of the Region" reports and represents a coordinated effort among personnel from ORD, U.S. Geological Survey-Biological Resources Division, EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program, and EPA Regions 4 and 6. The report summarizes the condition or status and geographical distribution of ecological resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The report is based on data collected from a variety of federal, state, and local resources, notably EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), and is designed to appeal to a broad audience of scientists, managers, and the public.

The report is organized in three parts: (1) an introduction to estuarine ecology and the factors that impact estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico, (2) an evaluation of ecological indicators used to measure the condition of gulf estuaries, and (3) an ecological report card summarizing data on ecological indicators and providing a rating of the condition of estuaries in each gulf state and for the gulf states overall.

Findings included the following:

--   Wetlands loss was rated as severe throughout the Gulf

--   Excess nutrients can lead to problems such as algal blooms and
     oxygen depletion. Gulf estuaries have moderate conditions for
     nutrients, with the most serious problems existing in Louisiana
     and Texas.

--   Gulf estuaries ranked fair for low dissolved oxygen; most of the
     estuaries with persistent low dissolved oxygen occur east of the
     Mississippi River

--   Sediments in Gulf estuaries were found to be in fair condition
     with respect to contaminants. The few "hot spots" were found in
     shipping channels and near point sources of pollution.

--   Clams, worms, and crabs, and other bottom-dwelling animals that
     compose the benthic community are sensitive to low oxygen levels
     and sediment contamination. Nearly one-fourth of estuarine areas
     in the northern Gulf of Mexico had degraded benthic communities.

--   Commercial landings of fish and shellfish were generally stable.
     This is largely due to shellfish harvesting restrictions on more
     than 2.4 million acres of waters out of 6.3 million acres
     classified as shellfish-growing waters in Gulf estuaries.
     These prohibitions were due to pollution.

--   In general, gulf estuaries and wetlands support large, healthy,
     stable populations of waterfowl and other coastal birds.

The report may be requested from ORD's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division 850/934-9218. Technical questions should be addressed to Gulf Ecology Division authors at 850/934-9200. The report may also be found on the world wide web at www.epa.gov/ged.