Animals: Oyster Argument

Oyster openers sharpening their knives for the opening of another oyster season were dismayed last week at a statement by Dr. Vera Koehring of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. Addressing the National Shell Fisheries Association at Atlantic City, N. J., learned Dr. Koehring announced that the cost of opening oysters can be reduced from 25¢ to 2¢ a gallon by putting the oysters to sleep with a light solution of carbon dioxide, boric or lactic acid. Anesthetized oysters relax their grip on themselves, open their shells. Said Dr. Koehring:

“For the sake of humanity as well as economy, the proper way to open oysters is to give an anesthetic. Opening the oyster by roughly prying the tightly closed shell is equivalent to a major operation. The oyster has a heart and muscles the same as any other animal.”

In Maryland, where oystering is a major industry, Conservation Commissioner J. Swepson Earle was quick to take issue with Dr. Koehring. “The oyster is one of the lowest forms of marine life. I doubt if it would feel pain from a knife,” said he. For the benefit of sensitive oyster eaters who might insist on having their oysters opened under an anesthetic Commissioner Earle added: ”The oyster’s heart beats even while being served on the shell. So if you gulp down an oyster the chances are its heart keeps beating from ten to 15 minutes afterwards.”