How an alien shellfish with a strange taste found a home in midcoast Maine

How an alien shellfish with a strange taste found a home in midcoast Maine traces the presence of nonnative European oysters in Maine back to government introductions in the late 1940s. The story includes Scott Moody, who about 30 years ago found an unidentified “monster bed” while clamming near Harpswell by the Sea; local seafood buyer Bob Waddle identified them as European oysters. Federal and state biologists introduced Ostrea edulis after Maine’s native Crassostrea virginica nearly disappeared, driven in part by predation from green crabs. Scientists aimed to create an alternate harvest option if soft-shell clams were “wiped out.” Seeds were reportedly introduced in the fall of 1949, with Southport Island near Boothbay Harbor believed to be where they took root. Later, Moody linked further seeding in 1952–53 around Harpswell to state marine biologist Dana Wallace.