The Second Half of the 20. Century: North America John McCabe

Intro North America Environment Ocean Awareness Mariculture •U.S. Agencies •Chesapeake Bay •Willapa Bay Asia Europe •France Navigational option: Focus on France Focus on Chesapeake Bay Focus on Willapa Bay

Much like the first half of the 20th century, the second half was also marked by enormous industrial growth and tremendous advancements in all the sciences. The Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf War came to pass. Next to the rich upper crust, a broad and prosperous middle class evolved in both Europe and North America. Great steps were taken in the areas of environmental protection. A number of powerful state and governmental agencies evolved in Europe and North America, which directly or indirectly complemented each other in protecting the environment and public health. Fighting pollution as well as rebuilding and maintaining the overall integrity of rivers, lakes and coastal environments became a prime endeavor of many nations both in Europe and North America. This had a considerable bolstering effect on the seafood industry as a whole.The term "aquaculture" became a powerful buzz word.

Both European and U.S. oyster growers were severely impacted by the advent of a number of "new" oyster diseases. The European oyster industry nearly collapsed completely by the early 70s due to oyster diseases. It rebounded, however, later in the 70s, due to the successful introduction of the Pacific oyster (replacing the former Portuguese oyster) as well as the continued cultivation of the European oysters with natural and laboratory raised seed stock. France continued to be the market leader in terms of oysters in Europe. Although France dominated the European oyster industry for the rest of the century, new players entered the game, most notably Scotland, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, and Germany. Compared to France, their volume was relatively small but the quality was (and still is) remarkably high. Although their cool waters dictate slow oyster growth and there was (and still is) a dependency on French natural oyster seed as well as laboratory seed, the ultimate product earned the respect of many European oyster lovers.

Starting in the 50s and 60s, U.S. oyster growers on the East Coast and the Gulf were besieged by two deadly parasites almost simultaneously: MSX and Dermo. These two diseases continued to ravage the Eastern oyster populations throughout the second half of the 20th century. They continue to do so now at the beginning of the 21st century. The Chesapeake Bay oyster industry was particularly hard hit by both oyster diseases. Neither of these two parasitic diseases was (or is to the present day) fully understood. Despite the setbacks, the Gulf states maintained a commanding lead in the U.S. oyster production (about 60% of the national total). The oyster growers in the Northeast continued to struggle with limited harvests (approximately 10% of the national total). The West Coast, however, saw a meteoric rise in oyster production (about 30% of the national total). The large scale production of oyster seed in American marine laboratories in the late 1970s allowed West Coast oyster growers to finally shed their dependency on Japan. In the last decade of the 20th century, U.S. oyster landings averaged about 35 - 40 million pounds of meats annually, valued at well over $100 million.

In terms of oysters (and shellfish in general), the second half of the 20th century was most remarkable, possibly more remarkable than any other time segment in the history of mankind. It marked a time of broad prosperity, both in North America and Europe. The first few decades of the second half were particularly exciting. Lots of people had plenty of money left over to spend on "the finer things in life". Countless Americans worked hard and turned "the American dream" into reality, complete with a nice home, 2.5 kids, color TV, and at least one big shiny new car in the driveway - the bigger, the better. An increasingly urbanized and educated society was able to focus more on travel and recreation. The powerful V-8 in that Bonneville was ready to take the whole family just about anywhere. Paris and PanAm was the perfect package and the exchange rate for "Dollar to Deutsche Mark" was simply delightful. Luxuries, like Champagne for instance, were no longer just reserved for weddings and victory or business celebrations. In some years, the United States imported more than 18 million bottles of the famous French bubbly - the British importing even more. Oysters fit in very nicely as a wholesome choice among foods or as that special oyster stuffing on Thanksgiving Day. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a wonderful pamphlet titled "How to cook oysters" with lots of tempting recipes that made this tasty and nutritious bivalve irresistible. As a preferred appetizer on the half shell in an elegant setting, the oyster was no longer reserved for the "rich and famous". Just about anybody could afford it - and many did. Pearl necklaces were also highly popular. The pearl oysters of the Pacific often could not produce pearls fast enough to meet the high demand. Kokichi Mikimoto, the "Pearl King" built an international empire around his fabulous cultured pearls and ultimately became a very rich man.

The second half of the 20th century was also the époque of broad environmental awareness, followed by powerful legislation. Countless people worldwide also became highly intrigued by the mystery and beauty of the fascinating world below the waves. Aquaculture, the farming of animals and plants in lakes and oceans, began to evolve as a significant new food source for mankind.

Environmental Awareness
Although rarely recognized in this day and age, there can be no doubt that the bounty and high quality of oysters (and shellfish in general) we so very much enjoy today, is in great part owed to the dedicated and sometimes courageous efforts of environmentally concerned citizens of the 60s and 70s.

Starting in the early 60s, many citizens wordwide became highly disturbed about the dangerous environmental dilemma rapidly unfolding around them. In the fall of 1962, a revealing environmental book titled "Silent Spring" (Rachel Carson) was published by the Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company. The book turned out to be extremely popular. By the end of 1962, Carson had already led to the introduction of over forty bills regulating pesticide uses in various states. In the course of decades prior, human, military and industrial waste had often been dumped not not only killing off plants and animals on land, in rivers, streams, lakes and the coastal environments, but were also increasingly poisoning humans, sometimes in most insidious and deadly ways.

Many environmentally conscious action groups started to form internationally and proceeded to challenge a virtual jungle of bureaucracy and the white washing of certain big industries. Most of these so called "environmentalists" were ordinary folks, volunteering their time and money to try to bring about desperately needed changes. It took a great deal of courage and commitment on their part to take on respected and powerful institutions and bluntly point out what often amounted to environmental crimes. Some of these environmental groups, the most famous being "Greenpeace", soon had just about everybody's attention worldwide. Environmental awareness soon became wide spread in the general populous.
Although folks then could not spell out the meaning of acronyms like "DDT" or "PCBs" any more than most of us can today, they soon associated these abbreviations with "something" that could be real bad for people and the environment. By 1969 a catchy song by Zager and Evans called "In the Year 2525" hit #1 on the music charts with ominous lyrics like "I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive; He's taken everything this old earth can give; And he ain't put back nothing…"

In the late 70s, an example of the horrifying extent of past industrial waste and subsequent tragic human suffering rocked the United States with the community of "Love Canal". Countless Americans across the country started to wonder, if their families unknowingly were also being exposed to poisonous chemicals stemming from chemical wastes that had been dumped into their soils and rivers. The signs of staggering levels of pollution were everywhere. For instance, some people started to refer to the coastal waters around New York City as the "Chemical Coast". Most of the oysters there, which had miraculously managed to survive in these heavily polluted coastal waters clear into the 50s, were "deader than a doornail" by the early 70s. New York City was by no means unique in terms of poor marine water quality. Later, by the end of the 70s, once the respective state agencies up and down the U.S.-East Coast, West Coast and Gulf started to conduct frequent and intensive testing of the marine water quality, thousands of shellfish growing areas close to coastal cities and towns were classified as unsafe to a greater or lesser extent. Hundreds were closed. Many have remained closed for oystering and clamming to this day. By the end of the 70s, just about every adult American sensed that pollution was a major problem and great damage had already been done to the complex and far-reaching interplay of nature and the environment as a whole.

The rapidly deteriorating quality of the environment and ensuing public outcry led to sweeping governmental changes and powerful new legislation in a number of countries. Although important new American environmental legislation had already come to pass in the 1960s (passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968, and the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969), the biggest changes started to come about in the 1970s. While a number of already existing federal agencies in the United States expanded their existing programs, additional new agencies were created. Their primary purpose was to either directly and/or indirectly help restore and protect the integrity of the environment and further improve public health standards. Some states were already way ahead of the game, having long established environmentally sensitive agencies of one form or another. The remaining states soon followed suit to a greater or lesser extent.

In 1972, a mighty piece of legislation was passed: The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. This law is commonly known today as the Clean Water Act (CWA). It furnished the tools and necessary enforcement powers to monitor, restore, and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of American waters. The goal was (and is) to protect fish, shellfish and wildlife in and around water. Over the decades, the CWA was amended and strengthened. To this day, it is the centerpiece of (surface) water quality protection in the United States. The CWA was (and at times still is) a bitter pill for some states, municipalities and particularly for a number of industries. Cleaning up the mess and not adding to the environmental crisis was (and is) often extremely expensive and led to a great number of protests and law suits. The CWA, however, is also equipped with a considerable amount of, shall we say, "executive muscle". It gave a new agency called "EPA" (founded in 1970) the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. The CWA made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. Although enforcement was (and still is) primarily handled by the states, the EPA, as do citizens, had (and have) the capacity to bring direct actions to enforce permits. Section 505 authorized any person to bring a civil suit against any discharger violating a permit limit. Federal and state agencies could initiate a wide variety of administrative, civil, and sometimes even criminal suits. The EPA also funded the construction of sewage treatment plants with construction grants.

It was recognized that pollution in watersheds, sometimes reaching hundreds of miles inland, directly impacted the natural integrity of their respective estuaries (the places where the rivers and streams ultimately meet and mix with the ocean). Estuaries are the preferred home of oysters and countless other types of shellfish and fish. For the oyster and the shellfish industry in general, the practical benefits of the CWA were noticeable in just a matter of couple of years. A number of oyster growers were reporting much improved harvests. And, to beat all, a few decades later, the oysters in the waters around New York City started to survive again. To this day, all oystermen continue to be most concened about pollution in the watersheds, as it can lead to grave consequences for their shellfish beds way downstream. In fact, oystermen have every reason to be concerned with any kind of changes anywhere near their oystering beds. A new dam, the digging of a canal, a new factory, a big new housing development or even a new live stock enterprise for example could potentially destroy their past cultivation efforts.

In the second half of the 20th century, the enormous environmental significance of wetlands was also recognized. Wetlands often provide a critical habitat for migratory waterfowl, many animal species, plants, check flooding, prevent excessive silting in our waters and act as environmental filters was recognized. It was also discovered that wetlands were (and still are to this day) dwindling at an alarming rate.

Ocean Awareness
Louis Boutan built the first underwater camera in France back in 1899. In the first half of the 20th century, the movie maker John Ernest Williamson (1881-1966) had already produced a number of outstanding underwater adventure films such as a cinematic rendering of Jules Verne's 1870 novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916). The extensive submarine warfare of WW1 and WW2 was well remembered. In 1954, Disney released its own cinematic interpretation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was (and still is) a splendid, big-budget action movie. Actually, mixed in with lots of action, Jules Verne, Williamson and Disney had already managed to clearly suggest the great potential of the oceans. Captain Nemo (James Mason), referring to the ocean floor from his splendid fictional 19th century submarine (the Nautilus), noted "All this was once an island. Although it is now sunk, it is nevertheless fertile. We do our hunting and farming here." Professor Aronnax (Paul Lukas) replied: "Underwater?" Nemo: "The sea supplies all my wants." The well known satirist and poet Jonathan Swift once concluded that "He was a brave man who first ate an oyster." One might wonder, what Swift would have had to say about the "pudding" ("Fillet of Unborn Octopus") Nemo proceeded to serve his guests. Whatever that may have been, the mere thought of such a "desert" left the unruly Ned Land (Kirk Douglas) and likely much of the cinema audience squirming in their seats. The impetus to go out and farm the oceans for more of such "culinary treats" was likely not an immediate consideration that came to mind. Most people at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century continued to know very little about the oceans. Thanks to television, this would all soon change rapidly.

In 1946, only 0.5% of U.S. households had a television set. By 1954, about 55% owned one. In 1962, 90% of the U.S. households had one. By 1964, a little over 3% of the television households had already traded in their black and white sets for expensive color sets. By the early 60s, the stage was finally set to reach millions of people right in the comfort of their living rooms with entertainment, news and other information, usually pervaded with (more than) plenty of advertising. Information and entertainment pertaining to the oceans was now also starting to splash out of TVs on a regular basis,

In 1943, a device called the "Aqua-Lung" was invented by the Frenchmen Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan. It was a underwater breathing apparatus based on compressed air contained inside a cylinder. Cousteau developed a deep passion for oceanography and ultimately became an international champion of many marine ecological causes. In the 50s, he began mesmerizing people around the world with spectacular film footage of the undersea world. For decades to follow, he produced many fascinating television documentaries about the oceans. Cousteau and his crew, aboard the famed ship Calypso, riveted countless families all over the globe their TV set. For many, missing just one of his great documentaries was almost a little ecological disaster in itself. Starting in 1958, a television series called "Sea Hunt" aired for several years. Weekly, the unforgettable "Mike Nelson" (Lloyd Bridges) took millions of Americans along on adventurous trips into the world below the waves with these "Aqua Lungs". Diving with compressed air as a sport (SCUBA) started to become popular in the 60s.

Confronted with the now obvious riches of this amazing underwater world, some people started to seriously explore the concept of large scale farming of organisms that live in water, such as fish, shellfish, and algae for human use, a practice soon to become well known by the name "Aquaculture".