NOAA Awards $1.9 Million To The Virginia Institute Of Marine Science For Oyster Restoration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration granted $1.9 million to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to support an Oyster Restoration Monitoring Program in Virginia. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant will finance the restoration effort that is a collaboration between the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NOAA. Four major programs are to be completed with the funding including habitat restoration, broodstock enhancement, field tests of oyster strains that may be able to better survive, and molecular genetics research in support of the above efforts.

“Funding from this NOAA grant will help return the abundance of oysters to their native habitat in Virginia,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This is another example of NOAA’s and the Bush Administration’s strong commitment to species conservation and environmental stewardship.”

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 in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA’s 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.