The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is recommending the award of US$10 million to fund new reefs at an oyster sanctuary in the Chesapeake Bay, US.
The four-year grant will help pay for the infrastructure for reef bases on about 50 to 75 acres (20 to 30 ha) within an existing Maryland Department of Natural Resources oyster sanctuary, as well as ground-truthing to assess the area before construction.
NOAA awarded the funding as part of its Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
“This is an exciting time for oysters in the Chesapeake Bay,” said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. “Just as we’re finishing the tributary phase of sanctuary construction and seeding, this $10 million award will help us with future oyster restoration throughout Maryland.”
The grant comes as the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement hits its 10th anniversary. The agreement outlined a goal to restore oyster habitat and populations in ten tributaries—five each in Maryland and Virginia—by 2025.
Four of Maryland’s five large-scale oyster sanctuaries are initially complete, with work on the last site on target to complete in 2025.
Maryland now has more than 1,000 acres of restored oyster reefs, spanning 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometres). Oyster are natural filters, cleaning the water of excess nutrients, and a big economic driver for the region, making around US$31 million in 2022-2023.
