Oyster eaters have been avoiding the shellfish during the summer months — and so lowering their risk of food poisoning — for at least 4,000 years. That’s the major finding of a new study examining remains of the Boonea impressa, a parasitic snail that latches onto oyster shells, in a 230-foot shell ring built by the inhabitants of St. Catherine’s Island off the coast of Georgia.
The snail has a predictable 12-month life cycle, and so by measuring the length of its shell, the scientists were able to estimate when its oyster host had been harvested by humans. Based on the size of the snail shells on the oyster shells in the ring, oyster harvest was limited to the late fall, winter, and spring. This avoids not only the summer months, but the time when southeastern oysters spawned as well. In other words humans knew how to ensure they would have food for next year.
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