Overview
This environmental history of America’s largest estuary provides insight into how and why its former productivity and abundant fisheries have declined. The concept of “shifting baselines”—changes in historical reference points used in environmental assessments—illuminates a foundational challenge when evaluating the health of ecosystems and seeking to restore degraded wildlife populations. In this important book, Victor S. Kennedy examines the problem of shifting baselines for one of the most productive aquatic resources in the world: the Chesapeake Bay. Kennedy explains that since the 1800s, when the Bay area was celebrated for its aquatic bounty, harvest baselines have shifted downward precipitously. Over the centuries, fishers and hunters, supported by an extensive infrastructure of boats, gear, and processing facilities, overexploited the region’s fish, crustaceans, terrapin, and waterfowl, squandering a profound resource. Beginning with the colonial period and continuing through the twentieth century, Kennedy gathers an unparalleled collection of scientific resources and eyewitness reports by colonists, fishers, managers, scientists, and newspaper reporters to create a comprehensive examination of the Chesapeake’s environmental history. Focusing on the relative productivity and health of its fisheries and wildlife and highlighting key species such as shad, oysters, and blue crab, Shifting Baselines in the Chesapeake Bay helps readers understand the remarkable extent of the Bay’s natural resources in the past so that we can begin to understand what has changed since, and why. Such knowledge can help illustrate the Bay’s potential fertility and stimulate efforts to restore this pivotal maritime system’s ecological health and productivity.
Full Product Details
Author: Victor S. Kennedy (Chesapeake Biological Laboratory)
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint: Johns Hopkins University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 17.80cm
, Height: 1.70cm
, Length: 25.40cm
Weight: 0.476kg
ISBN: 9781421426549
ISBN 10: 1421426544
Pages: 168
Publication Date: 27 December 2018
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
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. * Bay Journal *
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. * Bay Journal *
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. -Bay Journal
Author Information
Victor S. Kennedy is emeritus professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. He is a coeditor of Ecology and Conservation of the Diamond-backed Terrapin, The Eastern Oyster: Crassostrea virginica, and The Blue Crab: Callinectes sapidus.
