Cubagua’s Pearl-Oyster Beds: The First Depletion of a Natural Resource Caused by Europeans in the American Continent

Aldemaro Romero, Susanna Chilbert, M.G. Eisenhart

Abstract


Cubagua’s Pearl-Oyster Beds: The First Depletion of a Natural Resource Caused by
Europeans in the American Continent Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the causes and mechanisms of depletion of natural resources can provide powerful tools in biological conservation policy. We report here what we believe was the first case of a depletion of a natural resource in the American continent by Europeans: the pearl-oyster (Pinctada imbricata) beds off the coast of Cubagua, Venezuela, in the early sixteenth century.

Key words: Pearl-oysters, Depletion, Natural Resources, Overexploitation, Human
Rights, Venezuela, Cubagua.


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2458/v6i1.21423

Copyright (c) 2017 Aldemaro Romero, Susanna Chilbert, M.G. Eisenhart

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