Oyster
The largest oyster-producing body of water in the United States is Chesapeake Bay, although these beds have decreased in number due to overfishing and pollution. Willapa Bay in Washington produces more oysters than any other estuary in the US. Other large oyster farming areas in the US include the bays and estuaries along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Apalachicola, Florida in the east to Galveston, Texas in the west. Large beds of edible oysters are also found in Japan and Australia. In 2005, China accounted for 80% of the global oyster harvest. Within Europe, France remained the industry leader.
Daufuskie Island
The design of the island's shoreline and tidal range are conducive to the lengthy spawning season of oysters. On this island the oysters grow in clusters rather than individually. The natives of this island valued the natural abundance oyster present on the island. Massive mounds of shucked oyster shells found on the island stand as testament to the extensive use of oysters on the island by the native. Native Americans used the meat of the oysters as food and used shells to fashion tools, fertilizers, and tabby. The oyster industry hit Daufuskie island in the 1880s when an Italian immigrant named Luigi Paolo Maggioni leased oyster beds and opened a raw shuck oyster house on the island. Later in 1893, he opened the L.P. Maggioni and Company Oyster Factory. The factory harvested, shucked, steamed, and canned oysters to ship to Savannah. The success of L.P. Maggioni and Company Oyster Factory brought several to the island. Several shucking shacks and factories remained on the island after the L.P. Maggioni Company moved to Savannah, Georgia. The oyster industry flourished as people as far away as Bar Harbor and New York considered Daufuskie Island oysters as a delicacy. The 1930s depression and World War II caused the oyster industry to decline as many left the island for better job opportunities. The industry faced more setbacks as pollution from the Savannah River in the 1950s contaminated the island oyster beds. New wage and hour laws increased labor costs on the cannery cause it to close after the 1986 spring season. Fortunately, mom-and-pop shops continue to sell oysters on the island.