title: Millennial-scale sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Native American oyster fishery.
abstract: Estuaries around the world are in a state of decline following decades or more of overfishing, pollution, and climate change. Oysters (Ostreidae), ecosystem engineers in many estuaries, influence water quality, construct habitat, and provide food for humans and wildlife. In North America's Chesapeake Bay, once-thriving eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations have declined dramatically, making their restoration and conservation extremely challenging. Here we present data on oyster size and human harvest from Chesapeake Bay archaeological sites spanning ∼3,500 y of Native American, colonial, and historical occupation. We compare oysters from archaeological sites with Pleistocene oyster reefs that existed before human harvest, modern oyster reefs, and other records of human oyster harvest from around the world. Native American fisheries were focused on nearshore oysters and were likely harvested at a rate that was sustainable over centuries to millennia, despite changing Holocene climatic conditions and sea-level rise. These data document resilience in oyster populations under long-term Native American harvest, sea-level rise, and climate change; provide context for managing modern oyster fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere around the world; and demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach that can be applied broadly to other fisheries.
authors.affiliation: Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013; rickt@si.edu.
authors.forename: Torben C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Rick
authors.affiliation: Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013;
authors.forename: Leslie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Reeder-Myers
authors.affiliation: Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013; Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019;
authors.forename: Courtney A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037;
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Breitburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187;
authors.forename: Rowan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lockwood
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218;
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Henkes
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062;
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kellogg
authors.affiliation: Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Resources, Easton, MD 21601;
authors.forename: Darrin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lowery
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062;
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Luckenbach
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062;
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037;
authors.forename: Matthew B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Ogburn
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062;
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Southworth
authors.affiliation: Matapeake Soil, Shippensburg, PA 17257;
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wah
authors.affiliation: Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Newport News, VA 23607.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wesson
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037;
authors.forename: Anson H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Hines
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D061006:Bays; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D049896:Crassostrea / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005398:Fisheries / Q000266:history*; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American
keywords: archaeological shellfish; environmental management; fossil shellfish; historical baseline; marine fisheries