Billion Oyster Project is a New York City-based nonprofit organization with the goal of engaging one million people in the effort to restore one billion

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s to

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

by 2035. Because oysters are

filter feeder Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a s ...

s, they serve as a natural water filter, with a number of beneficial effects for the ecosystem. The reefs they form increase habitat and subsequent marine

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

levels, and help protect the city's shorelines from

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

s. Billion Oyster Project believes that engaging community members — especially young people — in reef restoration will lead them to become more environmentally aware in the future. The project aims to engage hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, and community scientists in marine restoration-based STEM educational programming. It involves 60+ restaurants in an oyster shell recycling program, which provides the project with shells for building new reefs. The project grew out of the activities of students at the

New York Harbor School The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, also called the Harbor School, is a public high school located on Governors Island. This school is unique in New York City, which has of waterfront, in that it attempts to relate every aspect of its c ...

, currently located on

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...

, who started growing and restoring oysters in New York Harbor in 2008. The school continues to be the project’s main educational partnership - involving students through internships and waterfront experience in seven Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. Along with Harbor School, Billion Oyster Project is stationed on Governors Island and the scope of their work is confined to the five boroughs of New York City.

History

Oyster reefs in New York City are thought to have covered more than of the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

estuary and filtered water, provided habitat for other marine species and attenuated wave energy but are now functionally extinct in the Harbor due to overharvesting, dredging and pollution. The initiative was the brainchild of Murray Fisher and Pete Malinowski, and grew out of the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School in 2014. A $5 million

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

grant allowed the program to spread to thousands of public middle school students starting in 2015.

Achievements

Billion oyster project sign at soundview ferry terminal

As of December 2022, more than 100 million oysters had been restored to New York Harbor, with of reef area restored. More than 11,000 high school and middle school students have taken part in the project. Approximately of oyster shell have been recycled. In 2020, expansion into mobile spawning tanks at

Red Hook, Brooklyn Red Hook is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City, United States, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula projecting into the Upper New York Bay and is bounded by the Gowanus Expressway and the Ca ...

allowed for significant increases in capacity.

Projects

Living Breakwaters

Living Breakwaters is a project overseen by the Billion Oyster Project in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

intended to reintroduce oysters while also protecting against storm surge, increasing biodiversity, improving water quality, and creating educational opportunities. This project is funded in part by the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...

, which contributed $60 million partly for the purpose of disaster recovery from

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

, but also to prevent similar disasters in the future. Staten Island was greatly affected by erosion and flooding from the 2012 storm, particularly along the south shore. The project started in

Tottenville Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is the southernmost neighborhood and settlement in both New York City and New York State, as well as the westernmost neighborhood in New York City. Tottenvill ...

, a neighborhood once famous for its oyster population. As part of the strategy, discarded oyster shells from over 70 New York restaurants are collected, then left outside for a year to be naturally cleansed of organic matter. Baby oysters are then placed on the shells by students at

, a maritime-focused public high school located on

. The oyster larvae are of the currently existing population, rather than introducing those of other populations which runs the risk of also introducing

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

. The oysters will be placed onto several walls in the water made of low acidity permeable concrete. The oysters on the walls will create 13,000 feet of natural

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

s a quarter mile off the shore of Tottenville as part of a

risk management Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources (i.e, Threat (sec ...

effort against

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, in light of an expected rise in both storm frequency and sea levels. The oysters are intended to naturally filter the water, making it more attractive to marine life and thus restoring biodiversity. The construction of the project is an opportunity for local classrooms and the community to get involved and see marine biology in action. The Living Breakwaters citizens advisory committee was established in 2015 and looks to gather opinions of the locals on decisions through the project. Project construction was originally planned to start in late 2019, but ultimately began in 2021.

References

{{Reflist Water resources management Citizen science 2008 establishments in New York City Non-profit organizations based in New York City Environment of New York City Oysters