Shifting Baselines in the Chesapeake Bay: An Environmental History

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Shifting Baselines in the Chesapeake Bay: An Environmental History Author: Format: Hardback First Published: Published By: Johns Hopkins University Press
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Pages: 168 Illustrations and other contents: 1 Illustrations, color; 4 Maps; 57 Illustrations, black and white Language: English ISBN: 9781421426549 Categories: , , ,

The concept of “shifting baselines”-changes in historical reference points used in environmental assessments-illuminates a foundational challenge when evaluating the health of ecosystems and seeking to restore degraded wildlife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.

Weight0.476 kg
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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 ... [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. —Historical Geography 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. —Archives of Natural History

Author Biography

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.