per year for fish production alone on the coastal sub-

merged lands, to over $3,000 per acre per year total value

for the highly productive protected marshes. The present

worth of an asset yielding $3,000 per year over a long term

at nominal interest rates would be listed at a surprising

figure in the hundreds of thousands of dollars; thus, if the

worth of protected lagoons and marshlands is computed in

terms of the 100-year asset value, a not worth in the range

of $200,000 to $300,0n0 per acre would be realized.

 The island has several marine facilities and other bays

which could be used for additional anchorage. There is no

other good representative of the mangrove ecosystem in the

Virgin Islands. Sube (19F8), in a survey of island resources,

said:

 "The beach vegetation, mangrove and rain forest

 areas are important vegetation types because of

 their relative scarcity compared to other types.

 They are also important as. natural features which

 contribute to the diversity of the scenery. There

 is only one remaining mangrove lagoon of size in

 the U. S. Virgin Islands. It is located on the

 southeast shore of St. Thomas. . Decisions on

 the allocation of this resource should be withheld

 until comprehensive scientific investigations have


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