The world was our oyster. Drew Smith
wrote a sorry tale in his new book 'A World History'. Apparently, Britain was
once the world's mollusc capital. It was destroyed by disease and greed.
Till the Romans came to Britain
nobody really bothered about oysters. The Romans loved them and taught Britain
to love them. Romans thought the British Rutupian oyster was a delicacy. They
came from the beds near Colchester. Eventually these oysters became a regular
trade between Britain and Rome. It was such a highly regarded delicacy that the
Romans built ice cellars underneath their villas.
Dew Smith wrote in his book about an
organized trade on a massive scale. He also thinks that the trade of the Essex
oysters was done in stages. A journey of more then 900miles the oysters would
have been dead. It is believed that the shipment from London went to Gironde.
Each stage the consignment was kept in barrel with seawater which was then
renewed. They might even had the barrel put into the estuary for some weeks
where the oyster was fatten up again on plankton and shipped on to the next
stage
By the Middle Ages the oyster had
reached a social status. It became the centre piece of British banquets held by
traders and freemasons.
By the year 1718 over 10,000 people
were directly employed on the oyster beds in Essex and Kent. They built bigger
boats to be able to go out further and longer. They discovered new beds in the
Channel. The record haul was in 1887 with 49,000 trawled in a day. Their greed
destroyed the beds within 20 years.
Then the railway was discovered and
built. Although a great achievement not doubt but disastrous for oysters. When
the oysters declined so did the communities which were supported by this trade.
Before this happen the oyster was a
regular income for the community because it could restock naturally. After that
the vast quantities which could be transported every day and directly to the
urban markets were the death of the oyster beds. In 1865 a record of 704 tons
were shipped from the Southend, Essex to Billingsgate, London. By 1872 the beds
were dead.
Another event which proved disastrous
was this boom which brought more people to the dockside. The disaster was that
it meant more housing and more waste which was tipped into the estuaries. The
town planners believed that this would benefit the oyster.
During 1894 and 1895 an amount of
5.7million were harvested. This was the beginning of the end. In 1895 there was
an outbreak of typhoid and it proved it came from oysters from Colchester.
The other places where oysters been
fished for centuries were Elmsworth and Warbillington near Portsmouth. There
had been a major Roman settlement there. However, Elmsworth poured its
untreated sewage right over the oyster beds. In 1902 four people died from
contaminated oysters and the beds were closed.
The space where the oyster beds are
had been given to the councils. This space had been used for damping unwanted
waste, chemicals and farmers toxic run-off into the waters. The councils answer
to prevent a major disaster is to close the oyster beds and forget about them.
NOT to stop the damaging unwanted waste, chemicals and farmers toxic run-offs.
THE NATIVE BRITISH OYSTER IS UNDER
THREAT OF EXTINCTION.
To the naturalist they are one of the
most successful species on the planet. Correction, they were until man came
along. After that the world was not our oyster anymore.
Many other natural resources will not
regenerate but the oyster will. If the oyster is allowed to grow into old age -
say 20 years or more - other species will also return.
All around Britain the possibility
exists to revive the oyster beds and the ecological and culinary benefits.
Apparently oysters are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. The oyster is
not extinct yet. It had re-emerged in the Firth of Forth after it had been
declared extinct, fifty years ago.
At Sylt, Germany on the tidal
flatlands an invasion of Pacific oysters had been seen.
Hopefully the sand will once again
turn into shells.
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