Each summer, Maine's Native Americans gathered in large groups to camp along its shores. They fished and dug for clams and grew corn on the hillsides overlooking the bay. They had big feasts of oysters, clams, and lobster. In Colonial times, the settlers used the salt marsh hay to feed their cattle and the tough cord grass to weave seats for their chairs. Many generations of Mainers, especially in downeast Maine, have made a living digging and selling clams and worms from the mudflats.
Estuaries are also important for aquaculture, an industry that is just twenty years old in Maine.
Allow each water sample to evaporate in individual shallow pans set in a sunny place. Keep a record of how long it takes each to evaporate. Updated August 17, 1998.