A few hundred years ago, the waters off New York were one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, particularly because of its unique population of oysters — until humans wiped out the shellfish. The Billion Oyster Project wants to reverse that.
There is little traffic in New York Harbor, with only a few boats sailing through the waters between Manhattan and Brooklyn this morning. In the distance you can see some jet skis racing across the water; behind it the Statue of Liberty. “It’s usually so quiet here,” says Pete Malinowski. He stands at the bow of a moving boat and comments on the passing scenery: «New York’s harbor is the largest and most beautiful open space in the city and is definitely underused.»New York’s waters, particularly the Hudson and East Rivers that line Manhattan on the east and west sides, have a bad reputation today. Many New Yorkers agree that there is a toxic sludge flowing between the boroughs that it is best to keep your distance from. But around 400 years ago, whales, dolphins, seals, seahorses, as well as countless species of fish still lived here — in an oyster reef that was one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. Then the growing population of the mega-metropolis completely depleted the oyster population, with fatal consequences: at the beginning of the 20th century, the ecosystem was practically lifeless. The waters are polluted, the harbor is overbuilt and the maritime environment has been pushed out of New Yorkers’ consciousness. Most of the city’s streets end where the water begins, Malinowski reminds: “New Yorkers don’t think about the fact that they live on an archipelago surrounded by a natural ecosystem. We leave New York to be in nature.”Malinowski wants to change that. His project, the Billion Oyster Project, aims to settle one billion oysters in New York Harbor by 2035. The oysters are intended to improve the water quality in the harbor in particular — because an adult oyster can filter up to 189 liters of water per day. Oysters also settle in reefs. These once served as a natural defense against stormy weather; This should be the case again in the future. The idea is no coincidence, because just a few hundred years ago the waters off the mega-metropolis were exactly that: a thriving oyster reef.The number of one billion oysters that Malinowski and his co-founder Murray Fisher have set as their goal sounds huge, but it represents only a fraction of the oyster population that lived in New York Harbor just a few hundred years ago. The initiative wants to populate around 40 hectares of the port with oysters; At that time there were around 90,000 hectares of oyster reefs.Since 2014, the project has already settled around 100 million oysters in the port. So around 10% of the way is done. However, the pace must increase significantly by 2035. But the partial success is already showing initial effects: the water quality in the harbor has improved measurably, explains Malinowski.“You can think of oyster reefs like trees in a forest,” he says. “They improve air quality, stabilize the soil and create the right conditions for animals to survive in the forest.” The port is, in a sense, a deforested forest. Malinowski: “Imagine 30 million people living around this non-existent ‘forest’ area — new trees would be planted immediately. But because this ecosystem is underwater, people think about it differently.”The Billion Oyster Project is particularly about making the city’s residents aware of their surroundings: «We want every person in New York City to have access to the restoration of nature here,» says Malinowski.
