When we think about the ideas that have the power to change the lives of the people in our communities, it's often the ones that come from the most unexpected or smallest places that have the biggest impact, like oyster beds. My name is Shireen Fathi, Vice President at RBC Capital Markets. As an avid environmentalist, doing my part to protect our planet, our waters, and our environment is something I've always been deeply passionate about. For the past five years, I've been working with the Billion Oyster Project in New York City, getting involved with the organization, helping to plan RBC's annual Billion Oyster Volunteer Day on Governor's Island, and spreading word of the project's transmission and initiatives through our firm.
I'm joined by Brian Rager, Director of Development at the Billion Oyster Project. We're going to talk about how a vision for a cleaner New York Harbor has exploded into a citywide initiative that has already restored 150 million oysters and engaged more than 20 ,000 New York City students.
Hi Brian.
Hey, Shireen, great to see you.
Let's get started by going back to the beginning, even before the Billion Oyster project, and talk a little bit about the history of the New York Harbor.
Absolutely. Well, you know, I think let's take it way, way back. On May 20th, 1624, when the first Dutch colonists arrived in New York Harbor, what they found was one of the most abundant marine ecosystems in the world. This amazing natural source was completely predicated on one simple species, the oyster. It's too cold in the northeast for coral, but it helps to think about the oyster kind of like we imagine a coral reef. The coral, like the oyster, provides, you know, habitat for fish, cleans the water, and that's exactly what our oyster reefs were doing here in New York Harbor.
An oyster grief at three years old or an oyster at three years old will clean 50 gallons of water a day. And on top of that, they grow into these three -dimensional reef structures which provide the habitat for young fish, crab, all kinds of species, all the way up the food pyramid to large creatures like whales and dolphins. And so the oyster really was kind of the centering point of this massive marine environment here in the city. - That explains why they're often described as ecosystem engineers. - Absolutely. And I should say, we are trying to put a billion oysters back in the water, but when the Dutch arrived, and really up into the 1800s, there were 220 ,000 acres of oyster reefs. We're talking about trillions of oysters here in New York Harbor.
It's hard for us to imagine in today's modern society, in city looking out at our harbor, and imagining kind of what the aquatic life would have been. You would have seen flocks of birds that would have blotted out the sun, there would have been fish jumping out of the water, there would have been whales, seals, dolphins, everything you can imagine in kind of a rich marine environment. That is obviously not the reality here today in New York, but it once was, and we really believe that it can come back. - Wow, so we have our oysters, our ecosystem engineers. Where did the original idea for the project itself come from? Who founded the Billion Oyster project? How did this all kick off? - So I think it's important to look back at what happened to that marine environment to understand kind of the genesis of Billion Oyster project and how we got our start.
So once again, 220 ,000 acres of oysters, marine species all over the place, what happened? Well... while that was great for some people's pocket books in the 1800s, by the turn of the century, the oyster was functionally extinct here in the harbor. And that moment is really where the Billion Oyster Project was born. There is a public 9th through 12th grade high school located on Governors Island, founded by a guy named Murray Fisher. And this is one of 37 vocational training schools here in New York City, where students select one of many careers to train in. But at the Harbor School, they're specifically training for waterfront jobs. Now, Murray hired a young, someone say idealistic aquaculture teacher named Peter Malinowski for that initial class when Harbor School opened on the island back in 2010. And Pete, as he is known, he's also my boss. He's the executive director here at Billion Oyster Project. He grew up in a oyster farming family. What happened was basically that the aquaculture students so enjoy the experience of putting oysters on the ground, growing them from swimming spat into full -shelled creatures that we know and love, that the other 500 students at the Harbor School started clamoring for this kind of experience. And what Murray and Pete quickly realized was that getting all the students involved with this hands -on experiment, if you will, was a great way to kind of propel all of them forward in their various STEM careers.
So the original vision sounds like, it sounds like it was twofold. It was environmental and educational. Could you talk about what it took to implement the idea and get the billion oyster project off the ground?
So what happened is, very quickly, from 2010 to 2014, you saw an explosion of interest within the school of growing, raising, and restoring oysters to New York Harbor. In 2014, something really important happened. It was the idea that if this was so galvanizing, right, if this experience was so moving for students who were studying STEM careers every day in their high school, what would be the impact if we took this idea and really tried to bring it harbor wide, right? And so the idea was basically, how do we take this model of student driven learning and export it to schools all over the city? And that was really the moment in which Billion Oyster Project was born, not just the idea of connecting more Oyster. - Yeah, it's actually, it's kind of a funny thing. I think we now have more than 50 % of our current staff. So over 25 current BOP staff were originally Harbor School students or teachers, but the Harbor School is incredibly competitive, not because it has some sort of entry task or some sort of requirement, but because so many students from around the five boroughs really see the future in marine careers and the school is expanding if I'm not mistaken. It is, it is. The DOE has selected the Harbor School to double in size so their graduating or their their enrollment will move from 512 to over 1100 students which is a recognition of just kind of the interest that students have to come to the Harbor School. Back over to the Billion Oyster project itself As the Billion Oyster Project celebrates its 10 -year anniversary this year, can you talk about the journey from 2014 to today? I mean, what is the difference between night and day? Today, Billion Oyster Project is the largest urban marine restoration program in the world.
So we have the capacity and capability of restoring almost 100 million oysters every single year and upwards of about six acres of marine landscape. This year, we've put in 64 million oysters. Our main reef site is two acres at Brooklyn Bridge Park right in the heart of New York City. But next year, and moving forward, I think what you'll see is that that spud barge floating around New York Harbor three months of the year will be put in hundreds of millions of oysters on the bottom. And although billion is a big number. We're on site for achieving that goal by 2034. So once you guys get a billion oysters into the harbor, what's next? Yeah, it's actually a great question. So a billion, although it's a great tagline, is not just a random number. We think that that is the number in which a self -sustaining population of oysters will be created in the harbor, right? So the idea is after a billion, there doesn't need to be a billion oyster project to continue growing the population beyond it. - You briefly mentioned like the water is looking better, the water is looking cleaner. Can you talk about the condition of the harbor and the ecosystem today and the broader social impacts for local communities and the people of New York? - I will just tell you, you know, the wildlife that we're seeing coming back to New York harbor is one of the most impressive anecdotes for the harbor's holistic health. There is a pod of nine dolphins living in the East River currently. We've had 136 whale sightings out by the Statue of Liberty, which is in the very inner harbor this year. And just last October, for the fishing fans out there, we actually had a blue tuna run into the harbor for the first time since 1823. And the reason all of these bigger creatures are coming back is because the smaller stuff that we don't see every day is coming back, right? The blackfish, the striped bass, all of those animals are starting to relocate to New York Harbor. - Brian, could you summarize the impact on the students and all the young people who have gotten involved with the Billion Oyster Project? - Absolutely. So, as I mentioned, you know, we have this foundational partnership with the Harbor School, which we continue to provide the job hours for the 512 students that go there, as well as BOP -trained professionals who actually run the labs for the CTE programs at the school. But we have branched out, we now work in over 109 public schools, 73 percent of which are Title I schools here in the DOE. And we've connected almost 20 ,000 students and 15 ,000 public volunteers to our work through kind of hands -on education programs. And I want to emphasize, and this is probably very understandable for most New Yorkers listening, you know, when New Yorkers think about the environment, they often think about, you know, the Adirondacks, the Great Lakes, you know, somewhere far afloat, right?
They don't think about a couple hundred feet from my house. And nearly every single road in New York City, all five boroughs, ends at the water's edge. And so I think the biggest impact we have, not just introducing students to, you know, future careers in the STEM field, but it really is opening their eyes to this natural world that exists right outside and you don't need a car or a plane or an overnight trip to get to, but it's something that you can access with your family, with your friends, with your community every single day. Very cool. It sounds like huge, huge impact. Do you guys ever get inbounds from other regions, other countries, other to come and replicate this this program elsewhere. Yeah, that's been something that's been really exciting and fairly recent. So in September of last year, Prince William came out and visited us. Since then, King Abdullah II from Jordan flew a billion oyster project team out to Aqaba in the Red Sea to start a Jordanian version of billion oyster project that's now been working for about six months and very excitingly on September 24th we are welcoming out the mayor of London, Sadaq Khan, to make a big announcement on using billion oyster projects kind of idea to clean the Thames. And so while billion oyster project is 100 % committed to New York Harbor, to restoring our harbor, connecting the people to the harbor. It's really cool to see kind of our inspiration being utilized to stand up similar programs around the world. - Totally, really, really awesome stuff. Thank you, thanks for taking the time to join me here today to discuss our little bivalve friends. Before we end off, could you leave our listeners with a few suggestions of how they could get involved with the Billion Oyster project or similar initiatives wherever they may be. - So I would say volunteering. It's on our website, super easy to sign up. We do all different types of volunteer events from small students, small kids to adults, but it's an amazing way to get an understanding of our program and get your hands a little dirty.
So we welcome out 3 ,000 public and corporate volunteers every single year. BC has been a long time partner. In fact, I don't know if you knew this, Shireen, but they were our first corporate partner ever way back in 2011 that started helping us build out this oyster project from the very beginning. And today they go on to support the students of the Harbor School through our work there in the professionals program. Thank you, Brian, for joining us and helping to shine a light on a really interesting story. We're very excited to be part of the impact you're making and your future successes. - Yeah, thanks so much, Shireen. It's wonderful to chat with you again. I know I will be seeing you on the island, but in the meantime, thanks to everything that RBC is doing to help support our work across the harbor. - RBC and the RBC Foundation partner with organizations around the globe to help bring life -changing ideas like the Billion Oyster Project to life. As part of RBC's Purpose Framework, we're leveraging our partnerships and community investments to create a thriving workforce and more equitable communities where we all have a chance to thrive and prosper.