James Michener's book Chesapeake has an entire chapter about ersters, starting his "Voyage Eleven, 1886". Of course, it's throughout the book,
including an English born bride who leaves her husband to go home with her final words, "I'm not eating another oyster!"
He writes there was a hurricane that went west of the Chesapeake up into Pennsylvania, flooding the Susquehanna River. The deluge of fresh water into
the Chesapeake created an imbalance between fresh & salt water almost wiping out the oysters. The oysters do come back and continue to be a source
of income & sustenance. btw, when James Michener writes it, it is much more compelling.