Restaurant Relief and Restoration: Support this Student-Led Shell Collection Bill

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Restaurant Relief and Restoration: Support this Student-Led Shell Collection Bill

Reclaimed oyster shells from restaurants are key to our restoration efforts. Thanks to a group of incredible students at West End Secondary School and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, a Bill was developed to give a tax credit to restaurants that are putting in the extra work of collecting and donating shells for the environment.

Learn more about the bill, why it matters and the simple steps you can take to add your support!

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Being a Woman in Aquaculture: An Interview with Billion Oyster Project's Hatchery Manager

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Being a Woman in Aquaculture: An Interview with Billion Oyster Project's Hatchery Manager

In honor of Women’s History Month, we talked to our Hatchery Manager, Rebecca Resner, about her career path, work at Billion Oyster Project, experience as a woman in the field of aquaculture and her advice for any young women interested in the industry.

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11th Hour Racing Renews Critical Support for Billion Oyster Project

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11th Hour Racing Renews Critical Support for Billion Oyster Project

As the United Nations Decade For Ocean Sciences kicks off this year, Billion Oyster Project is thrilled to be one of 12 new 11th Hour Racing grantees to address plastics pollution, coastal restoration, food waste, and water quality.

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BOP supports Canarsie Community Development Inc with new BLM t-shirt

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BOP supports Canarsie Community Development Inc with new BLM t-shirt

I would like to take everyone back to 2012 during Superstorm Sandy. Communities around New York City were hit hard by the storm: flooding, broken power lines, fallen trees, people in need of aid. Canarsie, Brooklyn, was one of those communities.

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Wild oysters—right here in New York Harbor

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Wild oysters—right here in New York Harbor

In late September, I conducted a wild oyster survey. This adventure to find naturally recruited oysters led to the discovery of thousands of young-of-the-year oysters! These glistening bivalves—attached to rocks, bulkheads, and bridges—weren't in the Chesapeake or along the coast of Long Island, but right here in New York Harbor, mostly in the Hudson and Harlem Rivers.

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BOP participates in the Waterfront Alliance's City of Water Day

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This past weekend we lucked out with cool and sunny summer weather for City of Water Day and the annual Jamaica Bay Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12!

As part of the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Park Conservancy’s virtual festival, Tanasia Swift, our Community Reefs Regional Manager, joined Alex Zablocki at JBRPC to talk about the large oysters growing in Paerdegat Basin near the Sebago Canoe Club.

“We’re not growing oysters for consumption,” explains Tanasia. “We’re growing them so they can provide habitat for animals, which increases biodiversity. Oysters are also filter-feeders so they take in nutrients and suspended particles [as they eat] — clearing the surrounding water.”

If you missed this session, you can still view the recording on our Facebook page.

At roughly the same time, BOP staff and volunteers were on the opposite side of Brooklyn in Domino Park — getting ready to pull up an Oyster Research Station! Passersby in the waterfront park got to examine Billion Oyster Project oysters up close, as well as the crabs and fish that make their home on and around clumps of oysters.

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Photos by Hana Isihara

“City of Water Day in Domino Park was a blast” said Agata Poniatowski, Education Outreach Coordinator at BOP. “It was really great to meet folks from the neighborhood who are curious and excited about the Billion Oyster Project’s work in Domino Park, with support from Two Trees!

To learn more about our education programming and upcoming events, visit our STEM Education page and Events page.

Bayswater Point State Park in Far Rockaway becomes BOP's first community reef in Queens!

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Bayswater Point State Park in Far Rockaway becomes BOP's first community reef in Queens!

Monday, July 20, was a BIG day at Billion Oyster Project! The installation of 96 bags of shell, with nearly 29,000 oysters in the form of "spat", was completed by an all-women crew along the warm, but picturesque waterfront in Bayswater Point State Park.

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