Billion Oyster Project

A short ferry ride from the hustle and bustle of New York City lies Governerʻs Island — the home base for the Billion Oyster Project.

Director of the project, Peter Malinowski said, “The Billion Oyster Project is a restoration and education project aimed at restoring a sustainable oyster population in New York harbor and reigniting in New Yorkers a passion and appreciation for the harbor. And we do that by growing oysters here on governors island with New York Harbor School and building reefs and through our schools program. Now we have 60 schools throughout the city where we train math and science teachers to teach their lessons through the lens of oyster restoration.”

The project aims to distribute one billion live oysters around 100 acres of reef by 2030 to rehabilitate New York cityʻs marine ecosystem. And its success in galvanizing schools, government organizations, as well as non profits made it an incredible learning opportunity for Hōkūleʻa and the mālama honua crew.

Hōkūleʻa crewmember Miki Tomita said,We’re brining them here to learn about how the school is integrated into a community wide restoration project. It is looking at one of the most polluted waterways in the area, the Hudson river and using oyster remediation, a technology that was in existence here for hundreds of years that um went away for a while because of human impact. Using the Billion Oysters Project to bring back that natural habitat and to incorporate experimental education and innovation and community efforts to better their environment.”

The group participated in discussions and tours of classrooms and facilities at New York Harbor School. It was a time for deep thought and conversation for Hawaiʻi students, government officials and especially our educational leadership.

Mahina Paishon Duarte, Co-Director of Kanu o Ka ʻĀina Public Charter School said, “I think itʻs really important that we are here at Governorʻs island to learn about the Billion Oyster Project because we are in a critical place as an education system. I am wondering from this experience how can we come together to really utilize education to solve our problems, both locally, nationally and at a global level and I think thatʻs the beauty of mālama honua it helps to galvanize us around a central purpose and a central theme.”