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Category FAQs Search : Ecosystem

Question: Benefits of Coastal Wetlands

Answer: 1. Coastal Wetlands Boost Economy
Coastal wetlands are some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth. They are crucial for healthy estuaries, which generate approximately half of commercially harvested seafood in the United States. In 2017, U.S. fisheries supported 1.74 million jobs (a 3.3 percent increase from 2016) and contributed $244.1 billion in sales (a 11.1 percent increase from 2016).

Our most recent study reveals that commercial fishing generated $170.3 billion in sales and provided 1.25 million jobs. Marine recreational fishing in the United States contributed 487,000 jobs to the nation’s economy, generating $73.8 billion in sales. Coastal communities that support these industries depend on their coastal waters for continued seafood production. The quantity and quality of our seafood is directly related to the quality and extent of wetland habitats.

2. Coastal Tourism is Big Business
A major economic driver for coastal communities, beach and coast visitors provide substantial tax revenue and job growth. More than a third of all U.S. adults hunt, fish, birdwatch, or photograph wildlife found in natural wetlands. Property values in waterfront neighborhoods can decline from 8 to 25 percent when water quality is damaged by nutrient and hazardous chemical pollution.

3. Wetlands Mean Cleaner Water
Development and agriculture contribute extra nutrients, pesticides, and silt to local rivers. Runoff from hard surfaces like concrete, asphalt, and rooftops is a leading cause of water pollution. Wetlands trap and filter these impurities, maintaining healthy rivers, bays and beaches.

4. Protection from Storms and Floods
Natural wetlands in coastal and riverine floodplains absorb floodwaters by acting as a natural sponge. Wetlands can lower overall flood heights, protecting people, property, infrastructure, and agriculture from devastating flood damages.

5. Conserving Coastal Blue Carbon
Salt marshes, seagrass beds, and mangroves play an important role in addressing climate change by removing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing them in plants and in the soil. Coastal blue carbon is the term used for carbon that is stored in these coastal habitats.

Efforts to conserve coastal habitats play an important role in preserving coastal blue carbon, preventing the release of carbon into the atmosphere, and reducing the effects of climate change.

(Source: NOAA Fisheries, 27 Jan 2021)

Source Link: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/habitat-conservation/coastal-wetlands-too-valuable-lose