Consumer‐Driven Depletion of the Northern Diamondback Terrapin in Chesapeake Bay

Abstract

AbstractThe northern diamondback terrapin Malaclemys terrapin terrapin was a popular food item that rose to gastronomical fame in the Chesapeake Bay region from the 1870s to 1910s. This study presents a quantitative analysis of the northern terrapin fishery by using data from historical fishery reports, contemporary newspapers, and restaurant menus to show that inflation‐adjusted prices experienced a fourfold to fivefold increase over 40 years. Wholesale market prices began declining in the early 1900s, and by the 1920s, northern diamondback terrapins were rarely listed in newspapers. Subsequently, restaurant prices began falling in the 1910s; by the late 1970s, northern diamondback terrapins were no longer listed on menus. Market declines had previously been attributed to the 1920 implementation of Prohibition (Volstead Act of 1919); however, we observed a closer relationship to the Food and Fuel Control Act of 1917. This study provides an example of an estuarine species that experienced one of the most rapid and greatest increases in price, followed by commercial extirpation in less than 40 years.