Beginning in 1834, an index of business activity by the Cleveland Trust Company provides data for comparison between recessions. Beginning in 1854, the National Bureau of Economic Research dates recession peaks and troughs to the month. However, a standardized index does not exist for the earliest recessions. In 1791, Congress chartered the First Bank of the United States to handle the country's financial needs.
n. pl. shellfish or shellÂ·fishÂ·es. 1. Any of various edible aquatic invertebrate animals having a shell, especially mollusks such as clams and oysters, and crustaceans such as lobsters, crabs, and shrimp. 2. An edible mollusk, in contrast to a crustacean: regulations concerning fish, crustaceans, and shellfish. 3. The edible flesh of such animals.
Shellfish include various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Historically, sea mammals such as whales and dolphins have been consumed as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times.