The Puget Sound and Hood Canal have become the perfect habitat for shellfish. However, it is important to note that specific species of shellfish each require varying factors in their individual ‘perfect habitats’. Due to glacial activity that took place up to twenty-thousand years ago, the Puget Sound and Hood Canal encompass multiple types of habitats. Their ability to accommodate a variety of species lends further credibility to their being the perfect shellfish habitat.
There are many different types of shellfish that thrive in the Puget Sound and Hood Canal, some are native to the lowlands while others are not. With the variety of species there comes a variety of perfect habitats. The famous Geoduck Clams, for example, prefer
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Giant ice sheets spread across America’s Pacific Northwest and into the Puget Sound lowlands. Over time, these ice sheets or glaciers advanced and retreated up to six different times. When glaciers advance and retreat, they leave behind and redistribute different types of sediments (Shipman, 2008). The sediment that the glaciers deposit is called till, and it can vary in size. Till can be large boulders or as tiny as sand particles ("Glacial Deposition", 2017). In addition to moving till, glaciers also carved out estuaries. Estuaries that were created by glaciers are known as fjords. Estuaries separate the ocean from the land and rivers. As a result, the water becomes brackish, or a mixture of fresh and saltwater ("NOAA's National Ocean Service Education: Estuaries", 2017). An interesting feature that fjords have are shallow shelves. These shelves help prevent nutrients from being pulled out to sea with the tide. The rivers that feed into the estuaries also bring along nutrients and sandy deposits from past glaciers (Gunther, 1927). When the nutrients provided by the sea are coupled with the till that is carried by the rivers, the perfect habitat for shellfish is …show more content…
The brackish water feed by the sea provides nutrients to the shellfish, ensuring a constant supply of food. Till, which is carried into the fjord by rivers provides the sand and rock needed to give shellfish stability in their watery home. All of these components are reflected in the Puget Sound and Hood Canal lowlands and create a perfect shellfish habitat.
Bibliography
Bivalves in Puget Sound | Encyclopedia of Puget Sound. (2017). Eopugetsound.org. Retrieved 18 August 2017, from https://www.eopugetsound.org/articles/bivalves-puget-sound
Glacial Deposition. (2017). Jsu.edu. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from http://www.jsu.edu/dept/geography/mhill/phylabtwo/lab11/depositsf.html
Gunther, E. (1927). Klallam Ethnography. University Of Washington Publication In Anthropology, 1(5), 171-314.
NOAA Habitat Conservation | Featured Habitat of the Month. (2017). Habitat.noaa.gov. Retrieved 18 August 2017, from
The warm, slow-moving waters created by the dams are ideal living conditions for the pike minnow that were found to be eating the hatchlings. A bounty was created for catching the pike minnows, creating additional funds that must be spent in order to encourage the salmon to survive. Fish transportation was also implemented to move the salmon 130 miles upstream past the dams.
They also look after the quality of coastal waters by watering down, sifting, and settling deposits, left-over nutrients and contaminants. They are highly productive ecosystems and provide habitats and act as nurseries for all manner of life.
Blue crabs have the highest value of any Chesapeake Bay commercial fishery; in 2000, the blue crab harvest was valued at a staggering $55 million (Blue Crabs – Chesapeake Bay Program). For Maryland locals, the importance of crabs during the summer months is bigger than any other issues; summer days are spent at picnic tables picking away at the hard shells of the steamed morsels. During these months, commercial fisherman are up before the sun rises, riding along checking their lines and baskets in the bay in hopes of a good yield of the crustaceans to bring back to sell later that day. In fact, an estimated one third of the nation’s catch of blue crabs come directly from Maryland’s own Chesapeake Bay (Blue Crabs – Chesapeake Bay Program).Therefore, sustaining the population of crabs is essential in the success of the businesses that rely on the income from selling them, and also to the people who consume the crabs frequently. At the same time, the constant pressure on harvesting the crabs for income has created an issue. Since the early 90’s, yield of crabs has decreased, resulting in an increase of efforts to meet the demands of the business of co...
Fish habitat is the underwater world which many people do not see. It is just like the world that people live. Fish and plants reproduce, eat, and live in this environment, and even face challenges such as invasive species. It is said that “Invasive species are non-native species that threaten the diversity or abundance of native species due to their uncontrollable population growth, causing ecological or economic impacts” (“Invasive” par. 1). Vegetation plays a big role for fish habitat and for a lake itself. Aquatic habitat provides living space for not only fish but also for many aquatic insects. These insects then in turn provide fish and other species of animals with food (“Native” par. 4).
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
Moreover, like other estuaries, the Long Island Sound has an abundance of fish and other waterfowl that add to the natural balance of the island, as well as one of the most important economic factors (Tedesco). Like other estuaries around the world, the Sound provides breeding, feeding, nesting, and nursery areas for many species that will spend most of their adult lives in the oceans (Long Island Sound Study). Despite these similarities to other estuaries, the Long Island Sound is unique from anywhere else in the world. Unlike other estuaries, the Long Island Sound does not just have one connection to the sea but it has two. It has two major sources of fresh water flowing into the bay that empty into the ocean.
The Chesapeake Bay plays host to an astonishing amount of plant and animal life, providing much of our fish intake for species that aren’t being overfished. For the species that are being overdrawn, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is working to restore the populations, and it’s going well thus far. Another theme that is endangering the marine life populations as well as the health of the human population is the massive amount of polluti...
The tidal salt marshes make vital contributions to the ecosystem in Jamaica Bay. The marshes help spawning processes and are primary nursery for species important to both recreational and commercial uses, providing protection from storm surges, and also removing pollutants and other toxic substances, which as a result, acts as a natural filter, improving the water quality in the bay. Salt marshes are low lying, grasslands that periodically become overwhelmed and drained by high tides. The fish and shellfish nurseries and are also a feeding ground for various species of wildlife in the ecosystem. They support a variety of invertebrates such as mussels, shrimp, oysters and horseshoe crabs that are key elements of the estuarine ecosystem. However, throughout the past few decades, the salt marshes at Jamaica Bay has significantly declined which created a tremendous negative impact on the general public in addition to the deterioration on the living habitats in the area. Many factors contribute to the decline such as sediment depletion, neighboring developments, increased tidal ranges, and especially nitrogen loading from untreated sewage. Although the damages done were unintentional, much of it was occurred due to negligence. As awareness has increased, restoration efforts have escalated as well as various groups respond well to mitigate the losses.
Excessive nutrients from agriculture, development, and industry are harming the Chesapeake Bay. These excessive nutrients harm the habitat for many of the bays species. On top of the habitat being depleated, overfishing and diseases are also hurting the bays species. Nutrient loads can be reduced with the help of lawmakers to put a cap on the emissions allowed in the environment. If this is done the dead zone will start to recede, but the time and money need to be spent in order to save the bay.
In New Hampshire it’s known as Qua-hogging, some even call it the devil’s work. However my fellow Baymen and I in Oyster Bay, NY call it clamming. There are many different kinds of clams that one may “clam”, I would like to focus on the hard shell clam “Mercenaria mercenaria.” The socioeconomic affect from clamming has effects on both the Baymen, their communities, as well as the Quahogs. Clamming has shaped entire communities in the New England area, creating a certain type of people, as well as ensuring the success of the quahog in the New England area. A particular place of focus for the commercial clamming industry is a small sleepy town called Oyster Bay, in NY.
Generation after generation gathered food off the land, people are continuing to practice this in our modern world today. Societies expressly continue to gather their own food as it provides an inexpensive, delightful tasting meal. One of the techniques of our historical past that is still in use today, that has been used for generation after generation is “netting” fish. Netting is a classic technique that has not faced as many revisions to its practice. It persists from one generation to the next due to the fact, that many do not understand it to be harmful to the environment; others may enjoy the idea of letting commercial fisheries catch large numbers of fish as it continues to keep some of Americans favorite meals low cost. Devastating fall out from neglectful thinking about netting will occur in the future if preservative action toward this way of life is not taken. Minimizing the use of nets in waterways will ensure salmon and other fish survive for many more generations to come, allowing this plentiful food source given to us by Mother Nature to be exploited and enjoyed by our future kin. With food sources now readily available, fishing with nets should be reevaluated as follows; who is allowed to fish with nets, what are their purposes, and how will this effect tributary fishing populations.
9. The Salton Sea Authority and the California State Water Commission presentation of : Salton Sea Symposium II - various speakers. The Salton Sea - January 1998
The Chesapeake Bay is a lively and diverse estuary-- it holds our famous blue crabs, oysters, scallops, fish, 87 species of waterbirds, and over 3,600 species of plants. Any impact that we have on the oceans and the bay greatly affect the life and health of not only the bay, but also the many diverse species of seafood and fauna that exist in the bay.
The study used a variety of species of fish, crab, shrimp, lobster, and other crustaceans known to live on the bottom waters of the Long Island Sound were exposed to low levels of oxygen in the laboratory. The effect of different concentration of oxygen on growth and survival was measured.