The Billion Oyster Project aims to save our sea walls.
The Billion Oyster Project aims to save our sea walls.
Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York, has had more than its share of batterings by the sea. Authorities used to think sea walls were the answer, but then they came up with a better idea: oysters.
I mean, what’s not to like? They’re really good toeat, farming them brings out the best in people and they stop storms from destroying homes. Truly.
A hundred years ago there were more than 80,000 hectares of oyster reefs in New York harbour. But in a story familiar to, oh, just about everybody everywhere, people ate all the oysters, polluted the water they lived in and destroyed the reefs because they got in the way of ships. Around the world, about 80 per cent of estuarine oyster beds have disappeared, for all the same reasons.
Oyster shell collection.
But then came Hurricane Sandy. In 2012 the largest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean bashed ashore in the Caribbean and all up the US East Coast, killing 220 people and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes. And quite a lot of sea walls.
Superstorm Sandy, as they call it now, kickstarted an American rethink over their storm response. One result was Rebuild by Design, a federal initiative that is now funding the Living Breakwaters project on the shores of Staten Island and the larger Billion Oyster Project, of which it is part. BOP is re-establishing 15 oyster reefs all round New York harbour.
The science is amazing. Each week, 5000kg of discarded oyster half-shells are collected from more than 70 city restaurants. Students and volunteers compress the shells into small, permeable bags, which are compressed into cages and left to spawn oyster larvae. Each shell can become home to up to 20 new oysters.
When they’ve grown, they’re reintroduced to the harbour, helping to form new oyster reefs. The “billion oyster” name refers to the project’s 2035 target.
Volunteers in the Billion Oyster Project.
Oyster reefs protect shorelines from erosion, rising tides and storm surges by breaking down the height and force of waves. But the environmental benefits don’t stop there. Sea water is becoming more acidic due to the extra carbon dioxide we’re producing, and that affects the viability of many kinds of sea life. Oysters filter the water.
Living Breakwaters is also designed to build social resilience, by engaging local communities in the work. Those students who prepare the oyster shells come from more than 100 schools and are part of a much larger effort in which local communities take responsibility for the health and protection of their own shorelines.
The Billion Oyster Project also offers career opportunities in marine biology, diving, aquaculture, marine engineering, public advocacy and seafaring.
And everyone gets to eat more oysters! Last year Villa Maria Wines pushed that idea, staging a Billion Oyster Party to promote its wines and raise money for the project.
Villa Maria's Billion Oyster Party
You’d think we could all learn to live more like this. Wouldn’t you? And perhaps we will. In Auckland, mussel ropes are being used to filter the harbour water and, in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, calming the stormwater rather than just trying to block it is now official policy. See my feature in the main Weekend Herald today.
Design for Living appears most weeks in Canvas magazine.
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