NOAA Awards More Than $900,000 To The South Carolina Department Of Natural Resources For Oyster Restoration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded $929,000 to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to fund oyster habitat restoration activities in state waters. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant, administered by the NOAA Restoration Center, supports the use of an integrated oyster resource and habitat management and restoration program. Building on their current statewide resource assessment of oyster beds using remote sensing and related ground-truthing, SC DNR will complete additional assessments of oyster bed and related habitat conditions. The SC DNR will also enhance oyster beds in poor condition using a series of scaled approaches that range from community restoration projects to shell recycling and state-managed plantings to create larger reefs.

Current oyster reef data was collected using novel digital airborne high-resolution multi-spectral imagery funded in a NOAA grant in 2003. The nature of this imagery allows for the condition of the reefs to be classified in much greater detail than previously possible and helps SC DNR to effectively target the restoration efforts and management of the oyster resource.

“This grant funds the research and restoration efforts necessary to responsibly manage and protect the oyster population in South Carolina,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA and the Bush Administration are working to improve our fishery resources through local and regional initiatives like that of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ oyster management program.”

The NOAA Restoration Center, within the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation, promotes strong partnerships at the national, regional and local level to enhance living marine resources to benefit the nation's fisheries by restoring their habitat. For more information about the NOAA Restoration Center visit: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration.

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit http://www.noaa.gov.