History

Primordial
Stone Age
Greeks
Romans
Middle Ages
Renaissance
18. & 19. Cent.
Belle Epoque
20. Cent. 1. Half
20. Cent. 2. Half
21. Century


The First Half of the 20. Century
John McCabe
 Intro
 Europe
 Japan
 Pacific Northwest
 East Coast
 


In terms of oysters, the first half of the 20th century drew different pictures in different parts of the world. It saw enormous industrial growth in many countries. The horrors of two world wars came to pass. In between, the Great Depression brought unimaginable poverty to many.

In the 19th century, the oysters had taught mankind "oyster lesson #1": Oyster harvesting without oyster cultivation leads to no oysters being left to harvest. Although this lesson seems almost absurd in its self-evident simplicity, almost all the oystermen in all the countries of the world had to learn this lesson the hard way. Amazingly enough, some did not learn anything and, in the first half of the 20. century, went right on over-harvesting what was left of the natural oysterbeds.

In 1913, the Canadian naturalist Jos. Stafford reflected on the past and took inventory of mankind's folley. In his exquisite book titled "The Canadian Oyster" he writes on page 103: "The oyster, in its simple, undesigned, mechanical mode of life, hampered by all its specializations and loss of sensory and locomotory organs, cannot evade or defend itself against the persistance and contrivances of man. If the oyster could reason it would regard man as its greatest enemy, for he not only calculatingly takes every specimen he finds but in various ways destroys others that he cannot see and almost maliciously interferes with the habitats of all stages of the developing young."

With the dawn of the 20th century, it was time for another simple lesson, "oyster lesson #2": Both oysters and cities grow particularly well where rivers meet the sea (so called estuaries). As cities grow, so does their industrial and human waste. Initially, oysters are often not easily offended by the pollution of their waters. They doggedly go on filtering the water around them, right along with filtering all the bacteria, viruses and metals added by the city folks. They grow into big, juicy and tasty oysters. The people in the city then eat them and get very sick or die. Ultimately, the oysters die as well.

Although this lesson also seems absurd in its self-evident simplicity, almost all the oystermen in all the countries of the world had to learn this lesson the hard way as well. Many oystermen learned this lesson early on and went on a crusade to clean up the mess. Growing industrialization and burgeoning populations in many coastal cities all over the world had led to the discharge of billions of gallons of untreated waste into rivers and coastal waters. Many oystermen became the front line fighters against the pollution in our marine environments. They now tried teaching "oyster lesson #2" to governments, big industries, and the public. Unfortunately, despite a vast number of illnesses and a great number of deaths caused by oyster consumption, their efforts brought only little pollution relief. Instead, governments in North America and Europe introduced tough new food safety standards which were enforced on state and national levels. Although this helped greatly, the fundamental problem, pollution, continued to grow. The shellfish industry did, however, manage to successfully enlist the scientific community. This proved to be a most beneficial alliance for all parties concerned - including the oysters for a change.

Top of Page

 

 

Advisements on any errors discovered are most welcome: Contact