Overfishing
and
deterioration
of their
habitat has
stressed the
blue crab
populations
throughout
much of
their range.
Callinectes sapidus
 The Blue Crab is a commonly seen
resident of shallow coastal waters
 Although the species lives below the
intertidal zone, dead specimens are
periodically found washed in onto the
beach where they are usually devoured
by the always hungry gulls.
How big is the Chesapeake Bay?
• 180-200 miles North to South
• Shoreline is 4,600 miles long
• Average depth is 25-30 feet
• The Chesapeake Bay is the nations largest estuary.
• 80 % water from Susquehanna, Potomac, James
rivers
• The Chesapeake Bay runs from Maryland to Virginia
the border states are Virginia and Maryland
• Watershed is Va., Md., De., Pa., N.Y., and W.Va.
• Western shore has the largest rivers
• 498,000 acres of wetlands
What is this again
SALINITY
 WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM LAST CLASS?
 SALTINESS - Varies from fresh in the North to salty in
the South WHY?????????
 Salinity is greater at bottom WHY????
 b/c of gravity
 Euryhaline is an organism that is tolerant to salinity
changes
What’s with these
WETLANDS
 Has 2,700 species of flora and fauna
 10 tons of organic matter is grown acre/year such
as spartina , asters, hibiscus, and cordgrass
 Oyster bar communities are the base for many
other organisms such are crabs, whelk & eels
 Half of blue crabs in nation live here
 Many juvenile marine organisms use wetlands
as a nursery ground
 Includes essential nutrients, detritus, and
minerals
Side Trip..
I got to go over
the bridge! My
first time too.
I love the
wind in my
face.
I’m on Fisherman’s
Island. It’s a wildlife
sanctuary…..
What they don’t
make me do !
WATERSHED
 They cross county,
 area of land where
state, and national
all of the water that
boundaries.
is under it or
 In the continental
drains off of it goes
US, there are 2,110
into the same
watersheds;
place
including Hawaii
Alaska, and Puerto
Rico, there are
 Watersheds come
2,267 watersheds
in all shapes and
sizes.
ESTUARY
New
Jersey
Low east-facing cliff
Parallels Atlantic Coast
New Jersey to Carolinas
Separates Hard (PM) Rock
from softer, gently sloping(M
& T S) rock
Site of many waterfalls
Landstat photo of the
Chesapeake Bay
Watershed
Name the states
that drain in the
Chesapeake Bay?
New York
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Delaware
West Virginia
Virginia
 Section 10.1-2100. Cooperative state-local program. --
A. Healthy state and local economies and a healthy Chesapeake Bay are integrally
related; balanced economic development and water quality protection are not mutually
exclusive. The protection of the public interest in the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries,
and other state waters and the promotion of the general welfare of the people of the
Commonwealth require that: (i) the counties, cities, and towns of Tidewater Virginia
incorporate general water quality protection measures into their comprehensive plans,
zoning ordinances, and subdivision ordinances; (ii) the counties, cities, and towns of
Tidewater Virginia establish programs, in accordance with criteria established by the
Commonwealth, that define and protect certain lands, such as WETLANDS, TIDAL
WETLANDS, Non-TIDAL hereinafter called Chesapeake Bay
Preservation Areas, which if improperly developed may result in substantial
damage to the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries; (iii) the
Commonwealth make its resources available to local governing bodies by providing
financial and technical assistance, policy guidance, and oversight when requested or
otherwise required to carry out and enforce the provisions of this chapter; and (iv) all
agencies of the Commonwealth exercise their delegated authority in a manner consistent
with water quality protection provisions of local comprehensive plans,
zoning ordinances, and subdivision ordinances when it has been determined that they
comply with the provisions of this chapter.
 B. Local governments have the initiative for planning and for implementing the
provisions of this chapter, and the Commonwealth shall act primarily in a supportive
role by providing oversight for local governmental programs, by establishing criteria as
required by this chapter, and by providing those resources necessary to carry out and
enforce the provisions of this chapter.
 Section 10.1-2103. Powers and duties of the board. - The Board is responsible for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this chapter
and is authorized to:
 1. Provide land
use and development and water quality
protection, even those areas of non-point source pollution, information and




assistance to the various levels of local, regional and state government within the
Commonwealth.
2. Consult, advise, and coordinate with the Governor, the Secretary, the General
Assembly, other state agencies, regional agencies, local governments and federal
agencies for the purpose of implementing this chapter.
3. Provide financial and technical assistance and advice to local governments and to
regional and state agencies concerning aspects of land use and development
and water quality protection pursuant to this chapter.
4. Promulgate regulations pursuant to the Administrative Process Act (§ 9-6.14:1 et
seq.).
5. Develop, promulgate and keep current the criteria required by § 10.1-2107.
 6. Provide technical assistance and advice or other aid for the development,
adoption and implementation of local comprehensive plans, zoning
ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and other land use and development and
water quality protection measures utilizing criteria established by the Board to
carry out the provisions of this chapter, so that LESS
rather than
more impenetrable surfaces are created. Because
increasing the amount of hard surfaces of any lands
here in tidewater act to increase the amount of
STORM WATER runoff picking up and moving the
pollutants on the streets to the nearest water way, the
BAY.
 7. Develop procedures for use by local governments to designate Chesapeake
Bay Preservation Areas in accordance with the criteria developed pursuant to §
10.1-2107.
 8. Ensure that local government comprehensive plans, zoning ordinances and
subdivision ordinances are in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
Determination of compliance shall be in accordance with the provisions of the
Administrative Process Act (§ 9-6.14:1 et seq.).
 9. Make application for federal funds that may become available under federal acts
and to transmit such funds when applicable to any appropriate person.
 10. Take administrative and legal actions to ensure compliance by counties, cities
and towns with the provisions of this chapter including the proper enforcement and
implementation of, and continual compliance with, this chapter.
 11. Perform such other duties and responsibilities related to the use and
development of land and the protection of water quality as the Secretary may
assign.
 Summarize How the CBPA Works
 1. _________________________________
 2. _________________________________
 3. _________________________________
 Therefore the overall goals of the CBPS are to ______&
________________the waters of the BAY from being
________________.
 9. Make application for federal funds that may become available under federal acts
and to transmit such funds when applicable to any appropriate person.
 10. Take administrative and legal actions to ensure compliance by counties, cities
and towns with the provisions of this chapter including the proper enforcement and
implementation of, and continual compliance with, this chapter.
 11. Perform such other duties and responsibilities related to the use and
development of land and the protection of water quality as the Secretary may
assign.
 Summarize How the CBPA Works
 1. Protect the Bay______________________________
 2. Draw up Regulations _________________________
 3. Enforces local government policies or compliance__
 Therefore the overall goals of the CBPS are to PROTECT
& PREVENT the waters of the BAY from being
POLLUTED.
Expanding wetlands are claiming low-lying
communities on Smith Island, Md. & Tangier Island, Va.
Settlements begun in the 18th & 19th centuries, together
with their churches & cemeteries, are often surrounded by
the rising water of the bay during periods of extreme
high tides -- a prologue to the rising sea level.
Extreme high
tide at
Hooper’s
Island,
Eastern Shore
(1998)
Native Americans
Settlers
African Americans
Famous Battles
Battle of Hampton Roads
Invasive Organisms
 species
 animals and plants that are
not native to a certain area
 harm the ecosystem they
invade.
 There are as many as 200
invasive species present in
the Chesapeake Bay
watershed that are causing
some serious issues in an
already-stressed ecosystem.
Chesapeake Bay Region
 There are over 200 known or
possible invasive species thought to
cause serious problems
46 of these were identified in 2001 as
nuisance species
6 pose the greatest threat to the
Bay region’s ecosystem.
6 living in the
Chesapeake Bay
watershed are
 mute swans
 Nutria
CAN BE
INTRODUCED IN
MANY WAYS
 Accidental travel by
humans or animals
 phragmites,
 purple loosestrife
 water chestnut
 zebra mussels
 Trade and Tourism
 Brought here
deliberately
(on Purpose)
mute swan
(Cygnus olor)
Mute swans feed almost
exclusively on bay
grasses: each adult
consumes more than 8
pounds daily and pulls
whole plants up by the
roots or rhizomes. Bay
grass restoration efforts
have been frequently
hindered by feeding
mute swans.
Nutria (Myocastor coypus)
 Prolific aquatic rodents
 Native to South America
 Dig out and feed on the
roots of marsh grasses
 Substantial wetland
losses in Maryland,
particularly at the
Blackwater National
Wildlife Refuge (NWR)
on the Eastern Shore.
 California 1899; fur farming & weed
control
Nutria - Impact on the Bay
 “Eat Out” (devoid of vegetation)
 Eat marsh vegetation
 Dig under marsh, feed
on root
 BNWR has lost about
8,000 acres to this
rodent
 Olney three-square
bulrush, a preferred food
choice of nutria
Common Reed Phragmites (Phragmites australis)
 Cut down and or pulled
out
 Set fire to the area if
large section needs to be
removed
 No chemical method
because of CBPA of nonpollutant materials to
kill organisms
 Native to US
 Impact: Crowds out
native species
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
 Provides little or low-quality
food, shelter, nesting sites,
nursery grounds, (muskrats
and waterfowl )
 dominates and reduces
native species and spreads
rapidly
 Introduced in 1800’s –ornamental and
medicinal uses; dry ballast in ships
and dumped by foreign ships along
coastlines
 It just spread by canals, waterways,
use of roads, commercial sale for
gardens,
Water chestnut (Trapa natans)
 Original use in ornamental ponds
 reappear several years after




eradication efforts
Spreads rapidly
Forms complete canopy blocking
sunlight from reaching bay grasses
growing on bottom
Thick beds impede navigation
Seeds with 4 hard, ½ inch spines
sharp enough to cut shoe leather
pose a hazard to beach activities
 Aquatic plant native to Europe, Asia and
Africa
 1855, Concord, Massachusetts
Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha)
•Encrust native mussels and
crayfish & attach to buoys,
ropes, docks, boat hulls
•Biofouling organisms
•Reduce the amount of plankton
available to native filter feeders
•Clumps clog pipes to power
plants and water processing for
industry and city water
treatment facilities
• Freshwater bivalve native to Caspian & Black
Seas of Europe (Russia)
•1988 first seen in Great Lakes region
•Came from unconnected waterways via ship
bilge, ballast water and anchors or anchor
lockers.
Invasive Organisms
 "European green crab"
(Carcinus maenas)
 North and Baltic Seas
 the shell (carapace) color
can vary from dark,
mottled green to orange
or red, with yellow patches
on the dorsal carapace
 Sacculina carcini –
parasite that takes total
control of the crab – it
doesn’t molt, grow or
reproduce for the rest of its
life
Green crabs have been implicated in the
destruction of the soft-shell clam
fisheries in New England (Cohen
and Carlton 1995) and the
reduction
of populations of other
commercially important
bivalves including the
scallop, Argopecten irradians, and the
northern quahog, Mercenaria
mercenaria (Morgan et al. 1980; Walton,
unpublished data as cited in Grosholz and
Ruiz 2002). In Connecticut, weekly rates of
crab predation on scallops were as high as
70% leading Tettlebach (1986) to observe that
green crabs were
responsible for most
observed mortality in
scallops and were a limiting
factor in population size.
Green Crab
GREEN CRAB was
"one of the worst, if
not the worst, calm
predators we know."
Veined Rapa Whelk
 Impact: Preys on bivalves,
such as oysters and mussels
 Native to: Pacific Ocean
 Status: Established in
Chesapeake Bay. Adult and
egg cases are reported in
the lower Chesapeake Bay.
 Established: James, York
and Rappahannock Rivers
Common Reed Phragmites (Phragmites australis)
 Cut down and or pulled
out
 Set fire to the area if
large section needs to be
removed
 No chemical method
because of CBPA of nonpollutant materials to
kill organisms
 Native to US
 Impact: Crowds out
native species
Japanese Oyster (Crassotrea
 Live for 30 years or more
 It has been documented
destroying habitat and
causing eutrophication
of the water bodies it
invades (NIMPIS 2002)
 large filtration capacity
and filters
gigas)
Main producer countries of the Japanese Oyster, Crassotrea gigas.