The Billion Oyster Project is a citizen science project co-ordinated by the New York Harbor School with the goal of restoring one billion live oysters to New York Harbor by 2030. The project aims to engage hundreds of thousands of school children during its lifetime in marine restoration-based STEM education programs. The project grew out of the activities of students at the New York Harbor School who started growing and restoring oysters in New York Harbor in 2008.
Contents
History
The project was inspired by the success of the Oyster Recovery Project based in Chesapeake Bay which has to date replanted more than 5.2 billion oysters on 1,600 acres of oyster reefs. Oyster reefs are thought to have covered more than 220,000 acres of the Hudson River 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 project was the brainchild of educators Murray Fisher and Peter Malinowski who are both associated with New York Harbor School and its Foundation and was formally established in 2014. A $5 million National Science Foundation grant will allow the program to spread to thousands of public middle school students from 2015.
Achievements
By August 2015, 11.5 million oysters had been grown in NY Harbor, with 1.05 acres of reef area restored. More than 2,150 high school students and 875 middle school students have taken part in the project. Approximately 93,600 pounds of oyster shell have been recycled. Co-ordinators estimate the oysters have filtered approximately 10.9 trillion gallons of water in New York Harbor, removing 6.75 million pounds of nitrogen.