27. Why Oysters Matter More Than You Think
About this episode
The episode discusses the importance of oysters in ecosystems and the efforts to restore their populations in San Francisco Bay.
I’m joined by Giulio Salerno from the Wild Oyster Project, an organization working to bring native oyster reefs back to San Francisco Bay and other West Coast estuaries. It’s about repairing ecosystems, building climate resilience, and bringing back something that once quietly held entire coastlines together. The Wild Oyster Project started with a simple but eye-opening realization: oysters used to be everywhere in San Francisco Bay. Huge native reefs filtered the water, stabilized shorelines, created habitat for fish and birds, and helped protect coastal communities from erosion and storms. Then, in what was actually a pretty short span of time, they were nearly wiped out. Overharvesting, pollution, dredging, and development erased more than 99% of the Bay’s native oyster populations. In this episode we talk about this history, the significance of oysters, restoration projects they have, collaborating with others, and more. Contact and connect: https://wildoysters.org/
More episodes of In Our Backyard Podcast
- 32. The Data Center Capital: Growth, Land, and Local Consequences
- 31. Sustaining East Tennessee: Farms, Food, and the Future
- 30. Ecology Beyond Data: Emotion, Storytelling, and Systems Change
- 29. Building Environmental Literacy for a Changing World
- 28. Critical Minerals, Critical Choices: Trade, Justice, and the Energy Transition
- 26. From Conflict to Coexistence: Protecting North America’s Carnivores
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