MARYLAND - The Maryland Congressional Delegation members announced $10 million for oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay.
On Wednesday, July 24th, Maryland Congressional Delegation members announced that $10,000,000 in federal funding will go towards the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to construct approximately 50 acres of reefs within the exiting oyster sanctuaries in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay.
The announcement came from state lawmakers, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, David Trone and Glenn Ivey.
State officials say the restored reefs will provide a habitat for the Bay's diverse wildlife, while also strengthening the local oyster population and improving water quality. Oyster restoration in the past has been linked to the increase in species like Blue Crab and White perch, both commercially-valuable in the region.
Maryland lawmakers said, "“Increasing the Bay’s oyster habitat and population not only improves the health of the Chesapeake Bay, it also supports the thousands of Marylanders whose lives and livelihoods depend on the Bay. We fought to pass the infrastructure modernization law and the Inflation Reduction Act to deliver investments like this that both support our environment and bolster our economy".
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provided the federal funding through their Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience grant program. Lawmakers say the grant was "supported by funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which the lawmakers fought to pass."