Page "Eastern oyster" Paragraph 4

Before Columbus and the rise of industrial oyster operations, there was an abundance of oysters in the bay.

Oysters first arrived in the Chesapeake 5, 000 years ago, and shortly after, local Indians began eating them.

Archaeologists found evidence the local Native Americans returned to the same place to collect oysters for 3, 000 years.

John Smith, on a voyage up the Chesapeake, stated oysters " lay as thick as stones.

" In fact, the word Chesapeake derives from an Algonquian word meaning ' Great Shellfish Bay '.

Because of the abundance of oysters filtering the waters of the Chesapeake, the water was much clearer than it is now.

Visibility would sometimes reach 20 feet.

When the English began settling the area, there is evidence they had a localized impact of the oyster population.

One archaeological site measured oyster sizes near Maryland ’ s old capital St. Mary ’ s city from 1640 to 1710.

In 1640, when the city was still small, oysters measured 80mm, and in the city ’ s maximum population in 1690, they measured to 40mm.

When the capital moved to Annapolis, the population moved with it, and by 1710, the oysters were back up to 80mm.

However, the effect of local overharvesting would remain local until after the Civil War, when a combination of new technologies led to the removal