The Oyster

by William Keith Brooks, Kennedy T. Paynter (Introduction)

"We have wasted our inheritance by improvidence and mismanagement."—William K. Brooks, on the Chesapeake Bay's declining oyster harvests, 1905 The Chesapeake Bay oyster has changed little, if at all, in the century since this popular book was published. But the oyster harvest has fallen to its lowest level on record—from 15 million bushels at the turn of the century to fewer than 100,000 bushels in 1993. What was once the most bountiful source of oysters in the world has become nearly exhausted. More than a century ago, explains Kennedy T. Paynter Jr. in the introduction to the present volume, scientist and Maryland state official William K. Brooks warned that this day would come. A classical morphologist by training, and one of the Johns Hopkins University's first and most distinguished faculty members, Brooks had "tonged oysters in five different states" when the governor of Maryland appointed him Oyster Commissioner in 1882. The Oyster , first published in 1891, is a popular scientific account of what he knew and what he learned on the job. After describing the basic biology of the oyster, Brooks discusses its tremendous reproductive capacity, what it eats, how it lives, why it thrives in the Bay, and what role it plays in the Bay's ecology. But The Oyster is more than a simple biology text. It is also a critical scientific review of oyster management in the Chesapeake Bay, commenting on and criticizing contemporary laws and regulatory practices—many of which are still in place today. The book is therefore as timely now as it was when first published. A new introduction from Kennedy T. Paynter Jr. brings the story into modern focus and again charges the reader with the responsibility of caring for the life of the Bay.

230 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 1996

Reviews

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe William K. Brooks when he says he has tonged oysters in five States. And here is what I learnt from someone who can hold his own not only amongst naturalists, but with oystermen too:

There is a state of exhaustion in all beds and making an informed decision about breeding is key if you wish to reap the plenty of your inheritance. There are many bottoms where there are no natural oysters, simply because there is nothing for the collected spat to catch upon; and there are bottoms which are so soft that a very young and small oyster would be buried in the mud and killed, although larger ones are able to live and thrive in the mud. The spat from the few mature oysters which escape the oystermen, drifts into the beds from the scattered oysters which still exist in protected places. A hard bottom is to be preferred, but this method may be employed with great advantage upon any soft bottoms which are near the surface and finally covered with water until the bottom is thoroughly saturated, when the water can be allowed to run out, and the bottom once more pounded while it is drying.

[Ryan Hepler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good book love the beginning quote, “We have wasted our inheritance by improvidence and mismanagement”

[Lisa Aboudan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maryland's oyster, how it reproduces, grows and our responsibility to keep the beds of the bay viable. The best part of the book regarding man - "while the fear of him and the dread of him is upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air and upon all that moveth upon the earth and upon all the fishes of the sea..." Yeah, that pretty much sums up man.