The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary* in the United States.
Its watershed** stretches across more than 64,000 square miles,
encompassing parts of six states — Delaware, Maryland, New York,
Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia — and the District of
Columbia. Its waters provide homes, food and protection for
2,700 species of animals and plants. It also serves as a highway
for commerce, a playground, a storehouse of food, and a home for
the 13 million people who live in its vast watershed. It is the
source of a fish and shellfish industry worth more than $850
million per year. But in recent years the Chesapeake has become
less able to support the fish and wildlife it once did.
Increasing amounts of excess nutrients, sediment, and toxic
substances are causing serious ecological problems in the Bay.
Studies show alarming declines in species of fish and wildlife
and in the habitat available to them. In spite of cleanup
efforts, the health of the Chesapeake Bay remains very poor. In
December 2010, the U.S.