Vol. 5 No. 1
December 23, 2015
1
The
Harbor
Current
Sanguinem cæruleum portus effundimus Late Island Final
Founded 2011
Photograph:Courtesy of Syed Hoque Syed Hoque ’15, Vessel Operations instructor, with cages of cured oyster shell For Vessel Ops Log, see p. 4
Plate to Reef: BOP’s Shell Collection Program Moves Forward on Staten Island by Maddy Wachtel Staten Island, New York-- A key aspect of the Billion Oyster Project--and one that had for some time been stalled due to lack of an appropriate space for shell curing-- is its shell collection program. Thankfully, green energy company NRG has given the use of land on the campus of their Arthur Kill Generating Station to the Billion Oyster Project as an oyster shell curing site. With this grant of land and with the partnership of Earth Matter NY, BOP has been able to restart its shell recovery program. In addition, Billion Oyster Project was recently awarded financial support as a partner of the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery’s Living Breakwaters project. This will allow BOP to recruit new restaurant partners and double the volume of shells recovered -- bringing the project that much closer to its goal. Because New York Harbor’s native oyster reefs are no more, BOP must secure discarded shells
Heading Down
to build reefs and to use as seeding substrate in the lab. Oysters spend the first two to three weeks of their lives as free-swimming larvae. At the end of their larval period, they settle out of the water column to the Harbor floor. If they don’t find a hard surface they fall into the mud and die. The shells of other oysters are a perfect hard substrate for larvae to attach to. Fortunately, there is an abundant source of oyster shells right here in New York City. New Yorkers eat up to half a million oysters in local restaurants every week. The Billion Oyster Project Shell Collection Program currently enlists 30 of the finest restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn to donate their shells for oyster restoration. Those shells are restoration gold– and even better, diverting them to BOP's reef-building program saves them from being shipped to distant landfills. To prepare for reuse, shells are shuttled from restaurants to NRG’s Arthur Kill Generating Station where they will cure for a year before being reintroduced to the Harbor as cultch and reef substrate. With the support of NRG, the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, as well as from the 1772 Foundation, the Overbrook Foundation, and ExxonMobil, BOP will use these oyster shells to grow new oysters– up to 20 per saved shell–, build habitat, and improve the quality of our Harbor and our City.
Photograph: Brianna Aguilar
Underwater for the City Students Dive at Tappan Zee by Jaxon Derow Hudson River-- There’s no doubt in my mind that everyone on the Croton-bound Metro North train thought we were a bunch of hooligans playing hooky, but we were far too caught up in our final dive preparations to pay them any notice. All seven of us shifted in our seats, anxious and eager to get in the water. None of us had expected to participate in a dive at the Tappan Zee Bridge, especially to help with a DEP and EPA project, but that’s what doing. We were excited to join the effort of the Billion Oyster Project and Harbor School which have been tasked with figuring out how to replace the estimated thirteen acres of oyster habitat that the construction of the new bridge will destroy. Our mission for the day was to assess the placement and orientation of the three artificial reef structures that are being tested. As the train approached our Tarrytown stop, our excitement grew exponentially. --Continued on Page 3
Inside: 4th Graders for Shellfish Sanity page 2
Dive Outtakes page 3
Vessel Ops Log page 4
Harbor School Awards Dinner page 6
Marine Biology Research Program Update page 7