Maine’s Environment 1994

Throughout Maine's history, the coast and offshore waters have provided great benefits to the people of Maine as a source of food, employment, recreation, transportation, waste disposal and cultural identity. These waters support valuable economic, social and ecological functions. Maine's coastal region encompasses only 12% of the state, yet is home to more than 43% of the population. Ecologically, the coast provides. important spawning habitat, nursery areas or nesting areas for myriad species of marine life and waterfowl.

In 1993, the State issued about 14,200 licenses to commercial fish harvesters who landed about 252 million pounds of fish and shellfish worth about $225 million. While fish landings in Maine have increased during the past several years, the catch of previously dominant species, including haddock, ocean perch and flounder, have' dwindled to precariously low levels. These species have declined primarily due to excessive exploitation. Offsetting this decline, the sea urchin fishery and aquaculture have grown tremendously in recent years. Sea urchin landings exceeded 41 `million pounds in 1993, valued at over $28 million. Finfish aquaculture landings increased to 16 million pounds in 1993, worth over $43 million. Lobsters continue to be the most important fishery resource along the coast of Maine. Landings in 1993 exceeded 30 million pounds, worth nearly $75 million.

Tidal flats are a predominant feature of our coast. Clammers work these flats contributing over $9 million annually to Maine's economy. But these flats are influenced by problems onshore. In 1993,39,037 acres, or 18% of the commercially viable shellfish habitat in Maine was closed to harvesting. The primary. reasons for closure include pollution from combined sewer overflows, overboard discharge systems, failing subsurface disposal systems and straight pipes as well as non-point source pollution, specific discharges and the lack of resources to monitor improvements. The annual loss of income to clam diggers from closed fiats is about $2.5 to $5.1 million.

Despite our low population and relatively limited industrialization, there are pockets of contamination along Maine's coast. While many contaminants are soluble in freshwater and are carried downstream, these contaminants precipitate out in saltwater. Thus, estuaries and the mouths of major rivers have higher concentrations of contaminants. In addition, even though the insecticide DDT has been banned in the U.S. for decades, DDE, a more stable by-product of DDT, is ubiquitous along Maine's coast.

Challenges for the Future

The enjoyment of our working coast requires a careful balance to sustain its beauty and significance. Resolving conflicts between competing uses for ever more finite resources between and within our fisheries, recreation, tourism and manufacturing industries will continue to be important in the years to come.

As our coastal population grows, the potential for nutrient enrichment problems grows. The cumulative effect of sewage treatment plant discharges and non-point source pollution increases the potential for algal blooms and a subsequent lack of oxygen that can kill substantial marine populations. We don't know enough yet about this problem to document and understand it.

The marine ecosystem is the most complex system in our environment and yet we know little about it. In addition, commercial fishing pressure potentially masks other stresses, making it difficult to differentiate the effects of our actions. We need to better understand our marine environment and the effects of natural and human-induced changes in environmental quality and ecosystem function.