The oyster population in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay has declined b y more than 38-fold since the early part of the century. Although the effects of fishing have been implicated, the decline has been attributed primarily to water quality and recently oyster disease. The decline has also been thought to have affected the biota and chemistry of the Bay. Our analysis provides a quantitative demonstration that the long-term declines are largely the result of habitat loss related to over fishing early in the century, stock over fishing, early in the century' through the recent times. Furthermore, the major ecological effects on Chesapeake Bay occurred well-before World War 1/, before industrialization and the prevalence of disease