OCEAN CITY -- Farm runoff, air pollution and development are degrading Maryland's coastal bays, particularly the waters closest to Delaware, a report finds.
The northernmost bays and their tributaries, particularly the St. Martin River, are the most damaged, with areas of poor water quality and dwindling fish and shellfish. Chincoteague and Sinepuxent to the south remain relatively pristine, with abundant fish, sea grass beds and shorebirds.
The report, produced by scientists with the University of Maryland and the state Department of Natural Resources, concludes that while the state's inland bays are not as polluted as those in neighboring Delaware, they are threatened by resort and retirement development expected along their shores.
"We still have a beautiful place here in Ocean City, but we are having an impact," said Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, who attended yesterday's release of the report at a restaurant overlooking Isle of Wight Bay. The Republican congressman's district includes the resort area.
The 35-page report is the first product of the year-old effort to protect and restore the shallow, narrow bays behind Ocean City and Assateague Island.
The Environmental Protection Agency has pledged $2.4 million over seven years to help state and local officials and citizens write and carry out a plan for curbing pollution and habitat loss.
The coastal bays' beds of sea grass, usually an indicator of health, have more than doubled in size over the past decade, so that they are covering 11,000 acres of bottom. But the growth does not necessarily mean pollution is lessening, said David Goshorn, one of the report's authors.
With an average depth of only 4 feet, the bays should support a lot more grasses, he said, and the bulk of the vegetation is in the least degraded southern bays.
Fish populations are relatively healthy overall, but a few sensitive species such as striped mullet, Atlantic menhaden and black sea bass have declined in recent years.
The northern bays also have seen increases in pollution-tolerant mummichog and striped killifish.
The coastal bays also have lost more than half their forests and wetlands, and their bottom sediments are tainted in places by toxic metals, pesticides and other chemicals that could be harming aquatic life.
But the single biggest problem is an oversupply of nutrients, the scientists found, just as it is in Chesapeake Bay.
