ABSTRACT
Effects of contaminants in other less grossly polluted bays, estuaries, and coastal waters, such as Biscayne Bay in Florida and certain parts of Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, are not as obvious. Marginal environmental conditions (toxic chemicals, low oxygen, diminished populations of certain forage organisms) may produce stresses on fish and shellfish that can result in poor condition, slow growth, greater susceptibility to infectious diseases, reduced survival of young, and slow attrition of survivors - all leading gradually, but less dramatically, to diminished wild stocks of species important to recreational or commercial fishermen and to reduced value of the degraded waters as locations for aquaculture facilities.
