Navigation Links
Restaurant seafood prices since 1850s help plot marine harvests through history

saw prices fall with the Great Depression, but they ballooned in the 1950s, with restaurants pricing lobsters at one-quarter pound (113 gram) weight increments, another reflection of declining supplies, says Dr. Jones.

"It's interesting on menus today to see the appearance of four and five pound (1.8 to 2.3 kilo) lobsters," he notes. "There is little chance those are coming from the inshore fisheries, which are so heavily fished a lobster is sent to market as soon as it's up to weight. What it indicates to me is the opening up of new deep areas on the outer continental shelf, 200 miles (322 km) offshore."

Among other observations gained from the archived menus: oyster prices remained relatively flat for some 100 years, then climbed at twice the inflation rate starting in the 1950s.

And the price of a wild canvasback duck meal rose from today's equivalent of $20 in the 1860s to $100 in 1910 as stocks collapsed. Professional hunters harvested up to 1,000 per day to supply restaurants, says Dr. Jones, fostering the federal government's decision to outlaw the commercial slaughter of migratory birds in 1913.

"As supplies dropped and prices rose, some of these species became a status symbol. It seems to confirm that many people simply want to eat something that is rare."

Some 200,000 restaurant menus have been uncovered by the research team in various archives, primarily in New England. Of these, many are banquet menus showing only the food served; Dr. Jones estimates just 10,000 include the date, city and prices.

Yet to be done is a sorting of five-star versus two-star restaurants, which Dr. Jones says will narrow the price spread in a given year but will not diminish the trends seen overall (plotted on several preliminary charts, appended). "When you think about it, a menu was a piece of ephemera it wasn't meant to be saved but thankfully some people collected them. We believe this is the first time anyone has tried to wo
'"/>

Source:Census of Marine Life


Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Related biology news :

1. Researchers find Amchitka seafood safe for now
2. By 2048 all current fish, seafood species projected to collapse
3. Non-GMO solution to seafood allergies
4. Hospitalizations because of chicken pox down dramatically since implementation of vaccine
5. Fitness has fallen since the days of Ancient Greece
6. Sequencing of marine bacterium will help study of cell communication
7. Solutions that reduce death of marine life reeled in by International Smart Gear Competition
8. UN environmental agency steps up battle against marine pollution
9. Evidence of 600-million-year old fungi-algae symbiosis discovered in marine fossils
10. Deep thinking: Scientists sequence a cold-loving marine microbe
11. UNC computer, marine scientists collaborate to predict flow of toxic waters from Katrina
Post Your Comments:
(Date:8/20/2008)...ble polymers called polyketals and their derivativ...nesses as acute lung injury, acute liver failure a... proteins and snips of ribonucleic acid to disease...rticles we developed are simply a vehicle to get t...uickly as possible," said Niren Murthy, assistant ...
(Date:8/20/2008)...e Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National...an $20 million in grants to develop innovative seq...ugh to sequence a person,s DNA as a routine part o...bility to comprehensively sequence any person,s ge...n an age of personalized medicine where healthcare...
(Date:8/19/2008)...nadotrophs , Although the basic developmental ... been harder to associate specific changes in gene...l population. In an article on p. 546 of the Septe...g et al. take the approach of comparing the nuclea...e immortalized at different stages of development....
(Date:8/19/2008)... for livening up boring bran flakes; it can also p...s at the National Institute of Standards and Techn...d effective method for evaluating the sugars pharm... for storage at room temperature. The group presen... Society National Meeting and Exposition. , Prot...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Biodegradable polymers show promise for improving treatment of acute inflammatory diseases 2Biodegradable polymers show promise for improving treatment of acute inflammatory diseases 3NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 2NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 3NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 4NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 5September 2008 Biology of Reproduction highlights 2Candy-coating keeps proteins sweet 2Bay State Restaurants Still Using Artificial Trans Fat Despite Health Risks 14313 1Bay State Restaurants Still Using Artificial Trans Fat Despite Health Risks 14313 2Bay State Restaurants Still Using Artificial Trans Fat Despite Health Risks 14313 3Survey Finds Many Americans Clueless About Eye Disease 14311 1Survey Finds Many Americans Clueless About Eye Disease 14311 2US Script Receives URAC Pharmacy Benefit Management Accreditation 14308 1US Script Receives URAC Pharmacy Benefit Management Accreditation 14308 2Project Concern International Receives a US 241 Million Grant From the Starbucks Foundations Ethos Water Fund to Provide Safe Water and Sanitation Ser 14305 1Project Concern International Receives a US 241 Million Grant From the Starbucks Foundations Ethos Water Fund to Provide Safe Water and Sanitation Ser 14305 2
...ro technique pioneered by Dr Amanda Hayes and her ...directly exposes human cells to airborne toxicants...wn on a porous polyester membrane inside a small d...c air pollutants. After as little as one hour,s ex... and a range of routine toxicological endpoints. ...
...fascination for most is the DNA molecule. But in s...etailed instructions for virtually all life, is a ... yarn than the famous double helix. To study it, s...tions of molecules floating in solution, and there... molecules for study. , Now, however, scientists...
...ain cells can grow new extensions when the amount ...eases, a new study shows. , The research examined...6 and GPR12, on nerve cells in the brains of rats....e three proteins, the cells grew extensions that w...ells with normal levels of the proteins, and the e...
...nmental Panel on Climate Change report citing the ... due to global warming echoes what many in the sci... researchers at The University of Texas at San Ant...ce are turning their attention to the South Pole t...ects in the frigid Antarctic region. , UTSA Eart...
Other Biology News:Soft-cell approach cuts animal tests 2Soft-cell approach cuts animal tests 3Nanotechnology meets biology and DNA finds its groove 23 proteins may play important role in nerve-cell repair 2UTSA researchers examine effects of global warming on Antarctic 2
(Date:8/20/2008)...FirstCall/ -- Eli Lilly and,Company (NYSE: LLY ) ...ion,of SGX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGXP ),...n drug discovery and development in the area,of on...s Special,Stockholders Meeting, in which a majorit... agreement with Lilly. Under the agreement, Lilly ...
(Date:8/20/2008)... and Caregivers, Grassroots ...ewswire-USNewswire/ -- Inc. Magazine has,named Sen...an for,low-income seniors, the number one fastest-...rt of Inc.,s annual list of the country,s 500 fast...1,000 percent from 2004 to 2007., "This is a rewa...
(Date:8/20/2008)...ll/ -- CEL-SCI CORPORATION,(Amex: CVM ) reports f...ing,June 30, 2008., The Company,s loss from opera...76,679 versus a loss of $3,776,263 during the same...ns for the nine months ended June 30, 2008,was $7,...e nine months in,2007., The net loss per common s...
(Date:8/20/2008).../ -- Huifeng Bio-Pharmaceutical,Technology, Inc (O...producer of plant extracts and pharmaceutical raw ... and food production, today announced it will,be i... August 19-21 in Rio,de Janeiro, Brazil., "Unpara...volved in the,pharmaceutical raw materials industr...
Breaking Biology Technology:Lilly Announces Completion of SGX Acquisition 2Inc. Magazine Names Senior Whole Health the Number One Fastest-Growing Private Company in US 2Inc. Magazine Names Senior Whole Health the Number One Fastest-Growing Private Company in US 3CEL-SCI CORPORATION Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results 2CEL-SCI CORPORATION Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results 3CEL-SCI CORPORATION Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results 4CEL-SCI CORPORATION Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results 5Huifeng Bio-Pharmaceutical (HFGB) to Attend CPhI South America 2008 Pharmaceutical Conference; The First CPhI Conference to be held in the Emerging Market of Brazil 2
...f Bastow , will dissect topics that intersect wi...including: entrepreneurship in IT, insights from ...gy trends that are driving real business value and...- At the dawn of the dot-com era and through its e...0, Kenosha entrepreneur John Weiss was on center s...
...ip of its new joint-venture model, the Center for...nd license 10 United States patents held by the Wa.... , ,The joint venture model is seen by CATI as th...f-strategy" technologies, and making them availabl...astern Wisconsin. , ,It also marks a change from t...
...ot drive change at all. Technology merely enables ...he options and opportunities presented by technolo...ed by technology forecaster Paul Saffo , which Ki...ealth in West Bend, they were instructive during ...ronic Medication Administration Record, or eMAR sy...
...o-part opinion piece on ethanol. Read part two. ...deal of media coverage on biofuels and ethanol, mu... of reading all this confusing information, so let...Then I will give you my opinion along with permiss...ly unbiased. Lucigen , the company I,m part of, i...
Other Biology Technology:Leadership insights from co-founder of Yesmail 2Leadership insights from co-founder of Yesmail 3Leadership insights from co-founder of Yesmail 4Leadership insights from co-founder of Yesmail 5CATI venture part of new tech-transfer strategy 2CATI venture part of new tech-transfer strategy 3CIO Leadership Series: Kim Pemble, SynergyHealth 2CIO Leadership Series: Kim Pemble, SynergyHealth 3CIO Leadership Series: Kim Pemble, SynergyHealth 4Anti-ethanol arguments are easily debunked 2Anti-ethanol arguments are easily debunked 3
Roll of Mesh 5m x 25cm
...bines the benefits of a Hybridizer and UV Crosslin... unit. , This unique, new design for the Life S...zation at one location , Hybridizer and Crosslink...f each other , The Crosslinker is also available ...
The bench-top stand comfortably holds up to 6 Finnpipette Digital single- and multichannel pipettes. The crossbars are made of a grippy material to keep the pipettes firmly in place. Individual shelf
Lambda Protein Phosphatase ( l-PPase) is a Mn2+-dependent protein phosphatase with activity towards phosphorylated serine, threonine and tyrosine residues. It is the 221 amino-acid product of the ORF
Biology Products: