Bay of Mali Ston

Coordinates: 42°55′N 17°35′E / 42.91°N 17.59°E / 42.91; 17.59 Bay of Mali Ston^[1] (Croatian: Malostonski zaljev) is a bay in the Adriatic Sea. The bay is located in Croatia's and partly in Bosnia and Herzegovina's territorial waters.

The maritime boundary between the two countries is an equidistant line between the Pelješac peninsula of Croatia in the southwest and the Klek peninsula of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the northeast. The bay constitutes Bosnia and Herzegovina's only coastline. Part of the bay also separates Pelješac from the Croatian "mainland".

The bay is named after the village of Mali Ston (near Ston). Its southernmost point is at the isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula, while its mouth is located at the point where the peninsula turns westwards, away from the Neretva river delta.

The bay is used for mariculture, mostly oysters and mussels. In the 1980s, the bay's production was at an average up to two million of oysters and 3,000 tonnes of mussels, accounting for 60% of the Croatian oyster production. The facilities were however gravely damaged by the Croatian War of Independence.^[2]

References

1. ^ Sometimes referred to as Mali Ston Channel, per Mladen Klemenicic, "The Border Agreement Between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: The First But Not the Last", (International Boundaries Research Unit, Durham University)
2. ^ Tomšić, Sanja; Lovrić, Josip (February 2004). "Historical overview of oyster culture in Mali Ston Bay". Naše more Vol.51 No.1-2 (University of Dubrovnik). ISSN 0469-6255. http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=12909. Retrieved 2010-12-21.