OYSTERS HAVE BEEN A FAVORITE FOOD OF HUMANS FOR AS LONG AS WE HAVE BEEN HERE

Oyster consumption extends back into prehistory, as they were easy to catch and they tasted good.  Oysters breathe much like fish, using both gills and mantle. There is no way of telling male oysters from females by examining their shells. While oysters have separate sexes, they may change sex one or more times during their life span. The gonads, organs responsible for producing both eggs and sperm, surround the digestive organs and are made up of sex cells, branching tubules and connective tissue. An oyster produces a pearl when foreign material becomes trapped inside the shell. The oyster responds to the irritation by producing nacre, a combination of calcium and protein. The nacre coats the foreign material and over time produces a pearl.

Folklore says that oysters should be eaten only in months with "r's" in them—September, October, etc. in reality oysters can be eaten 12 months a year. The notion that oysters should not be eaten in "r"-less months—that is, months occuring during warm weather—may have started in the days when oysters were shipped without adequate refrigeration and could spoil. But today all that has changed and we can enjoy oysters twelve months a year. Oysters are not only delicious, but they're also one of the most nutritionally well balanced of foods, containing protein, carbohydrates and lipids. The National Heart and Lung Institute suggest oysters as an ideal food for inclusion in low-cholesterol diets. Oysters are an excellent source of vitamins A, B1(thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), C (ascorbic acid) and D (calciferol). Four or five medium size oysters supply the recommended daily allowance of iron, copper, iodine, magnesium, calcium, zinc, manganese and phosphorus.

The "true oysters" are members of the family Ostreidae. Oysters are filter-feeders: they draw water in over their gills through the beating of cilia. Suspended food plankton and particles are trapped in the mucus of a gill, and from there are transported to the mouth, where they are eaten, digested and expelled. Oysters usually mature by one year of age. A single female oyster can produce up to 100 million eggs annually. Oysters are fished by simply gathering them from their beds. A variety of means is used. In very shallow waters they can be gathered by hand or with small rakes; in somewhat deeper water, long-handled rakes. In some areas a dredge is used. This is a toothed bar attached to a chain bag. The dredge is towed through an oyster bed by a boat, picking up those oysters in its path. Oysters can also be collected by divers. Oysters have been cultured for well over a century throughout the world.