Volume 1, Issue 3

What you can do!

Enhance or restore a coastal wetland. For more information, refer to An Introduction to Wetland Restoration, Creation, and Enhancement, by the Interagency Workgroup on Wetland Restoration. This document is available on the Web at www.epa.gov/owow/.

For funding opportunities for wetland restoration, visit www.nmfs.noaa.gov.

Have you ever stopped at the seafood counter at your local grocery store and marveled at the incredible variety of exotic fish and shellfish on display? You might be surprised to know that out of all the fish in the sea, we only regularly consume about a dozen different species. But although we are pretty finicky in terms of what kinds we like to eat, our appetite for seafood is definitely growing.

Cheap, and often readily accessible, fish and seafood provide the largest source of protein for a growing number of the global population. In fact, the amount of fish that is currently harvested in the world has surpassed the production of cattle, sheep, poultry or eggs! In the United States, we consume more than four billion tons of fish and shellfish every year. That s more than 16 pounds of seafood per person each year.

Whether you enjoy commercially farmed oysters or wild Pacific salmon, wetlands provide a vital link in the life cycle of 75 percent of the fish and shellfish harvested in the U.S.. Many fish and shellfish species rely on freshwater or salt-water wetland habitats to provide food and shelter until they grow large and strong enough to fend for themselves in the open waves. By recycling essential nutrients, wetlands are able to support high concentrations of the tiny organisms and insect larvae that young fish thrive on.

Wetlands also harbor a large variety of thick grasses, sedges and other types of vegetation, which can hide vulnerable little fish from the predators that are lurking in the big sea. Some of our all-time favorites like salmon, bluefish, winter flounder, striped bass, blue crab, and lobster owe their very existence to healthy, functioning wetland systems.

So just how much is a wetland worth to the commercial fisheries? If you are concerned about the health of our national economy, consider this: the U.S. commercial fishing industry contributes a total of $152 billion annually to the economy, of which about 71 percent comes from wetland-dependent species. In fact, wetland ecosystems help to maintain the livelihoods of two million Americans employed in the commercial fishing sector.

But that s not all that wetlands do for our fisheries. Cattails, rockweed, and other types of aquatic vegetation can help remove dangerous heavy metals, like copper and arsenic, from the water column, which keeps these toxins from ending up in the fish we eat. Wetland plants also help maintain appropriate levels of oxygen in the water and keep temperatures cool, both of which are essential for sustaining healthy populations of aquatic life.

Industry, deforestation, and coastal development are mainly responsible for loss and degradation of the marshes, swamps and mangroves that act as fish nurseries. Between 1992 and 1997 more than 32,600 acres of wetlands disappeared each year. This leaves many wetland-dependent species high and dry. For example, 43 percent of North American freshwater mussel species are endangered or extinct due to wetland loss or degradation.

But not all of the news about wetlands is so bleak. Since 1990, when Congress passed the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been working with coastal States to acquire, restore, manage, or enhance coastal wetlands through a matching grants program. As a result of this initiative, $152 million in grants have been awarded to 23 states and one U.S. territory, resulting in the protection of almost 189,000 acres of wetland habitat.

Under this program, the federal government provides anywhere from 50percent to 75percent of the costs of wetland rehabilitation or protection. The federal grants come from a special fund derived through excise taxes on fishing equipment, and fuel for motorboats and small engines. The remainder of the cost is picked up through partnerships with the state and local governments, private donors, and/or conservation organizations. These partnerships ensure that our commercial fishing industry remains a viable and important part of our national economy.

Wetland Sights and Sounds written by Suzanne Zanelli.

Photos courtesy of NOAA and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (www.gbrmpa.gov.au).

Wetland sounds courtesy of Partners In Ryme.

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The Izaak Walton League of America, founded in 1922, is a national conservation organization committed to protecting fish and wildlife, critical habitat and water resources. The League has 50,000 members and supporters nationwide, and maintains a national office in Gaithersburg, Maryland and a Midwest office in St. Paul, Minnesota.