February 26, 2026
Casey Harper
Program Director
Restoring Abundance: Oysters Return to SF Bay
We kept the momentum going in February—this time with shells, shorelines, and a comeback story hiding in plain sight.
San Francisco Bay didn’t always look the way it does now. Beneath the shipping lanes and seawalls, it once held sprawling reefs of native oysters—living infrastructure that filtered water, softened shorelines, and stitched the Bay’s ecology together. Most of us never knew them. Fewer still imagined they could return.
Yet here we are.
For our February 26 Ocean Hoptimism, we welcomed Casey Harper, Program Director at Wild Oyster Project—one of the people helping turn historical loss into living reef, shell by shell.
Her talk captured exactly what we’re trying to bring to life: awareness grounded in history, community rooted in place, and tangible pathways that turn learning into action.
Casey began by taking us deep into San Francisco Bay’s past. Native Olympia oysters thrived here for thousands of years, sustaining Ohlone and Coast Miwok communities long before industrialization. That abundance was later exploited during the Gold Rush, and as the Bay shifted toward shipping and heavy industry, oysters—and the fishery—collapsed.
Oysters were once the Bay’s natural filtration powerhouse. Wild Oyster Project’s restoration model is both elegant and practical: habitat enhancement using the right substrates, shell recycling from local restaurants, and meaningful public engagement through community science. Restoration not as spectacle, but as steady, replicable work.
And it’s working. Oyster recruitment is happening. Living reefs are forming. Water is being filtered. The proof isn’t theoretical—it’s measurable. Casey shared how these early successes are already opening the door to thoughtfully scaling restoration efforts across the Bay.
San Francisco Bay will never return to its pre-colonial or pre-industrial abundance—but it doesn’t have to remain diminished. With patient restoration, local action, and shared stewardship, abundance can return in new, durable forms. That’s hope with teeth. And it’s already happening.
Olympia oysters are tougher than we give them credit for—and so are the people working to restore them. Even in a highly urbanized estuary, they persist when conditions are right. That resilience, both ecological and human, is what makes this work feel meaningful and worth continuing.
—Casey Harper
