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Abstracts
Workgroup: Oyster Fisheries Management and Restoration
Video Documentary on the Rise and Fall of the Chesapeake Oyster Fishery
Principal Investigator(s):
Michael W. Fincham, Maryland Sea Grant, fincham@mdsg.umd.edu
Co-Investigator(s):
John R. Greer, Maryland Sea Grant
Funding Period: 9/1/97 to 8/31/99
This project allowed us to complete several videos on oyster restoration in the Chesapeake and lay the foundation for a long-form documentary on the rise and fall and restoration of the Chesapeake oyster fishery. The major results include
- Two versions of the video, From the Bottom Up: Restoring Oyster Reefs in Chesapeake Bay.
- Research into the photographic archives, including the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Maryland State Archives, CBL, Enoch Pratt Library, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Calvert Marine Museum, Tawes Museum, Baltimore Museum of Industry, Maryland Historical Society, National Geographic, Virginia Institute of Marine Science and some independent sources. As a result we now have identified several hundred photocopied images, most of them historic, of oyster harvesting, boats, oyster houses, oyster-related industry (shucking, canning, fertilizer plants, etc.), rural and urban (Baltimore, Washington, Annapolis) harbors, pierside activities, wholesale and retail markets, portraits, and communities.
- Research into film archives included many of the institutions listed above as well as additional sources. We have found some of the earliest footage of the industry, including silent and early sound film of harvesting and shucking as well as a never-seen interview with Reginald Truitt.
- Field shoots in Maryland and Virginia on the oyster industry and science research. Industry shoots include sequences and interviews on oyster dredging, tonging, planting, shucking and boat building. Video shoots on oyster research include field and laboratory sequences and interviews focused on MSX, hatcheries, nurseries, and reef restoration.
- Funding research and partnerships are currently being explored with a number of foundations and with public television for completing a long-form television documentary and a series for educational use.
IMPACTS and/or BENEFITS:
The completed video versions of From the Bottom Up: Restoring Oyster Reefs in Chesapeake Bay, have been used to educate key audiences about the science behind the growing effort at oyster restoration. Those audiences include legislators, both federal and state, research meetings, oyster industry events, school classes, maritime musems, and the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists.
PROJECT PUBLICATIONS:
Two video versions (11 minutes and 14 minutes): From the Bottom Up: Restoring Oyster Reefs in Chesapeake Bay
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