RESTORE AMERICAS ESTUARIES Peter Malinowski Chief Oyster Officer New York Harbor School New York Harbor School Billion Oyster Project
RESTORE AMERICAS ESTUARIES Peter Malinowski Chief Oyster Officer New York Harbor School
New York Harbor School Billion Oyster Project
Public Access Eelgrass
Beds
Coastal Wetlands
Oyster Reefs
Habitat for Fish,
Crabs, and Lobsters
Shorelines and
Shallows
Maritime Forests
Waterbird Islands
Tributary Connections Stream Corridors
Sediment Quality
Enclosed & Confined Waters
A Billion Oysters? – Like “Million Trees
NYC” – Measurable, tangible
goal – Modest goal given
historic reefs and Comprehensive Restoration Plan goals
Eco-dock and future MAST Center
Harbor School building
Governors Island facilities
Governors Island oyster reef
Harbor School Home Port
Wallabout Basin Oyster Nursery
….and more facilities at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Comprehensive Restoration Plan
It IS intended to: • Provide a shared vision of a
restored estuary • Serve as a Blueprint and
regional master plan for future restoration
• Coordinate and align regional restoration activities
• Adopted by the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Plan
• Serve as living document actively managed to track progress
Possible Plan for Governors Island
• ~ 3 acres of tidal wetlands • Floating wetlands in eco-dock area for habitat and wave
attenuation • ~ 160 acres of oyster reefs (adding to new rock revetment) • Enhance shallow water habitat along ~1200 linear feet of
existing sandy shoreline and possible terraced tidal flat • ~ 160 acres complex subtidal habitat for fish/crabs/lobster • Implement experimental restoration techniques
Unique USACE/NY Harbor School Partnership
• Harbor School students would provide: – baseline data for existing conditions (water quality,
biological surveys, etc) – oyster spat for initial population of oyster reefs,
reseeding (if necessary) and maintenance – Long-term Post construction monitoring – Program/sampling integrated into school’s curriculum
Marine Science •Aquaculture •Marine Biology Research
Marine Technology • Marine Systems Tech • Ocean Engineering • Scientific Diving • Vessel Operations
Our Curriculum: Six Career and Technical Education Programs
Our Curriculum: An integrated Program
We need •Writers to write permit applications and report on our progress •Mathematicians to perform the statistical analyses on our data sets •Scientists to conduct research and collect data •Historians to research historic oyster distributions •Artists to design our press materials to convey our message to the public