Ecology of Buzzards Bay Ecology of Buzzards Bay : an estuarine profile ecologyofbuzzard00howe Year: 1996 ECOLOGY OF BUZZARDS BAY: An Estuarine Profile 85 the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, and Wareham. Those same qualities mat make the Buzzards Bay region attractive for residential growth are also re- sponsible for attracting tourists. Maintaining the natu- ral resources on which the tourism industry is based requires a careful balance between protection of natural resources and accommodating the demands for access, especially to some of the most sensitive yet desirable areas. Employment in the
Ecology of Buzzards Bay Ecology of Buzzards Bay : an estuarine profile ecologyofbuzzard00howe Year: 1996 ECOLOGY OF BUZZARDS BAY: An Estuarine Profile 85 the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, and Wareham. Those same qualities mat make the Buzzards Bay region attractive for residential growth are also re- sponsible for attracting tourists. Maintaining the natu- ral resources on which the tourism industry is based requires a careful balance between protection of natural resources and accommodating the demands for access, especially to some of the most sensitive yet desirable areas. Employment in the two major tourist sectors, lodging and restaurants, has roughly doubled in the Buzzards Bay region since 1970, and the growth in tourist numbers has been even larger. With this surge in tourism comes a parallel increase in water activities such as boating, fishing, and shellfishing and growth in marine-related businesses. The seasonal influx of tourists to communities in the Buzzards Bay region raises their populations by almost three-fold, increasing nutrient loading at a time when nearshore coastal waters are most sus- ceptible to additional inputs. Parallel increases in recreational boating activities can increase turbidity in shallow, nearshore waters, decreasing light pen- etration with negative ecological consequences, notably the potential loss of valuable eelgrass beds. In addition, boat septic discharges add pollutants (although major efforts are underway to increase the availability of pump-out facilities and to restrict nearshore discharge), and small oil and gasoline spills are associated with power boat operation. The natu- ral scenic beauty and recreational resources, as with most coastal environments, are in essence the basic cause of their own potential degradation by increasing the demand for access to these resources. Agriculture. Cranberry growing is the domi- nant agricultural activity in the Buzzards Bay water- shed, with dairy cattle farming second. There
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