00:00Rebuilding our harbors, one oyster at a time.
00:05The Billion Oyster Project is making it their goal to restore oyster reefs in the New York Harbor.
00:11To date, they've returned 100 million oysters to the harbor
00:15and collected 2 million pounds of oyster shells with the help of 11,000 students and volunteers.
00:21Here with me to dive deeper into the benefits of this project
00:24is the Billion Oyster Project Director of Development, Brian Rager.
00:28Brian, thank you so much for coming on the show.
00:30First of all, can you explain to everyone what the Billion Oyster Project is?
00:35Sure, yeah, and thank you so much for having me today.
00:38As it says on the tin, on the front end is we are trying to put a billion oysters back
00:43into New York Harbor. So if you think about New York Harbor, it's helpful to think about
00:48it being too cold for coral reef, but the oysters were basically our coral reef.
00:53In fact, they're the coral reef of every ecosystem north of Virginia.
00:58So we are trying to put a billion back in the water because that is basically what
01:02it takes to recreate that original population.
01:05And then it'll bring all the other wildlife and biodiversity back with it.
01:09Fish and the crab and the dolphins and the seals and everything we think about
01:13in terms of abundant ocean biodiversity is what is started by the oyster itself.
01:19So that's the first thing that we're doing.
01:20And then the second thing is we're hoping to engage a million New Yorkers in this process.
01:25We do that by working in over 100 public schools around the city,
01:29offering free STEM education activities on the waterfront for, you know, hundreds of
01:33classrooms to come down, learn about the oyster, learn about its world and how their role in
01:40students, you know, day to day actions have a real impact on their environment around them.
01:44That's really cool. And I know that not only I read a little bit about it,
01:47not only will it improve the water ecosystem,
01:50but it's actually going to help our shorelines as well. Can you touch on that?
01:54Absolutely. So, you know, you touched on one thing that the oyster does,
01:57that, you know, an adult oyster at three years will clean 50 gallons of water a day.
02:02So a billion oysters is actually enough to clean the entirety of New York Harbor every three days.
02:07We've currently restored 136 million oysters to date, which is enough to clean
02:12basically the water body of the Chrysler building every single day. So they give you
02:18kind of a filtration impact. But more than that, you know, our shoreline used to be protected by
02:24these three-dimensional oyster reefs. Unlike scallops or clams that also filter the water,
02:28oysters actually grow on top of each other and create that three-dimensional reef structure.
02:34And studies have shown that oyster reefs in the wild reduce wave attenuation or wave force
02:39between 60 and 80 percent. So when you think about massive super storms kind of coming into
02:43New York Harbor, Superstorm Sandy is a great example, right? We had these massive waves
02:48battering the shoreline. Oyster reefs historically would have been providing that protection. And so
02:52that's what we're building for now is, you know, restoring shoreline through this kind of natural
02:57resilience layer. You guys are very popular. So popular that you even had a celebrity visitor,
03:03Prince William, came to look at what you guys are doing. That is so cool.
03:07You know, one of the cool things about what I get to do every day is just the amazing amount
03:12of public support we get. You know, everyone from, you know, school students to 80-year-olds
03:17that I meet at weddings have a general understanding of what we do. But Prince
03:21William was certainly one of the really most interesting experiences. You know,
03:26we really appreciated that the Kensington Palace and the prince himself remained interested,
03:31remained, you know, excited for this opportunity to come out. And, you know,
03:35we were absolutely honored to get two and a half hours and show him our work. He met with students,
03:39he met with our staff. He saw the oyster reefs up close and we hope that he left with a real
03:43understanding of what we're trying to do in New York City. What was his verdict? What did he
03:47think about what you all were doing? I think he liked it. You know, he got a hat on, which
03:53we heard was a pretty rare feat to get him dressed up in the gear. But, you know, I think the most
03:59meaningful factor was, you know, the next day he invited our executive director, Pete Malinowski,
04:05to attend the Earthshot Summit, which is, you know, the Prince's Foundation's keystone
04:11environmental kind of grant giving mission. But it's really just also a way to get kind of like
04:16the people who are in the philanthropic and corporate space to start thinking about some
04:20amazing solutions that are being grown by nonprofits and for profits around the world.
04:25And, you know, inviting us into that room. You know, I've been in a lot of rooms in New York
04:29City. I've been around a lot of people, but I was pretty blown away when I was standing next to
04:34a Bloomberg daughter and she couldn't get a seat. So that was a pretty cool room to be in.
04:39Well, Ryan Rager, thank you so much for coming on, for talking with us about your
04:42billion oyster project. It's awesome what you all are doing for the New York harbors.
04:46Thanks for coming out. And listen, we're on the water five days a week. So if you're ever
04:50in New York City, we'd love to take you out and show you an oyster.
04:53I would love that. Thank you for the invite.
04:55Yeah. Cheers, guys.
04:58And a few more details on what Brian was just talking about. Prince William visited New York
05:03for two days during Climate Week, a summit on climate action that takes place alongside
05:07the United Nations General Assembly. His first stop was to a pile of shells on Governor's Island
05:13donated by New York's finest dining establishments in solidarity with the billion oyster project.
05:19Now, after returning some oysters to the harbor, he met with the U.N. Secretary General and
05:24announced his finalists for the Earthshot Prize, an award by the climate-focused charity that he
05:30founded in 2020, which gives the winner a £1 million prize to continue their environmental
05:36work. The winner will be announced at the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Singapore on November 7th.
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