Reviews
Kennedy has examined the Bay's past abundances of seafood... sifting through anecdotal evidence and early surveys to arrive at a sense of just how full of life the Chesapeake was as Europeans began to settle it. His book also pulls together an accounting of how thoroughly we squandered the 'immense protein factory' praised by journalist H. L. Mencken.
... [A] concise and thought-provoking book Although much of [Shifting Baselines in the Chesapeake] is about what has been lost, Kennedy remains sanguine, albeit realistic, about the future of the bay.
The book is highly readable, appropriate for a general audience, and will be of interest to old Chesapeake hands as well as new readers interested in fisheries and ecosystem management.
From sturgeon to shad, blue crabs to bivalves, and terrapins to waterfowl, Kennedy has pulled together a wonderful and astounding account of the abundance that once characterized the Chesapeake Bay. The book is more than a broad guide to setting new baselines for recovering the Chesapeake's natural riches. It's an entertaining and readable history of how one of the world's most productive waters worked when it was firing on all cylinders.
What does ‘saving’ the Chesapeake Bay really mean? Despite recent improvement, we must do better than today’s still-fragile recovery. Dr. Victor Kennedy’s carefully-researched historical account of iconic Chesapeake fisheries encourages us to aim high. This national treasure deserves nothing less. It is time to make history—to have the Chesapeake Bay acclaimed as the world’s greatest natural resource success story, ever!
Book Details
Preface
Acknowledgments
Units and Terms Used in the Text
A Note on Anecdotal and Quantitative Harvest Statistics
Chapter 1. Shifting Baselines in the Chesapeake Bay, the Immense Protein Factory
Chapt
Preface
Acknowledgments
Units and Terms Used in the Text
A Note on Anecdotal and Quantitative Harvest Statistics
Chapter 1. Shifting Baselines in the Chesapeake Bay, the Immense Protein Factory
Chapter 2. Why the Chesapeake Bay Was So Productive and What's Changed
Chapter 3. The Spring Fishery for Shad and River Herring: A Hectic Scramble
Chapter 4. The World's Greatest Oyster Fishery: An Expansion, Then a Crash
Chapter 5. Diamond-backed Terrapins: From Pig Food to Gourmet Delight to Protected Species
Chapter 6. Uncontrolled Market Hunting of Waterfowl: A Mass Slaughter
Chapter 7. Sturgeon: A Prehistoric High Jumper Fell from Memory
Chapter 8. Blue Crabs Hung On
Chapter 9. Have Diminished Animal Abundances Remodeled the Bay's Food Webs?
Afterword
Appendix. Fishing Gear and Methods
Further Reading
Notes
References
Index