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MD to plant 41 acres of oysters with funds from Ever Forward Ship grounding

Ever Forward aground in Chesapeake
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ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — This summer, Maryland's oyster population is getting a boost.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced they'll be planting about 147 million juvenile oysters in the 41-acre Herring Bay Sanctuary in Anne Arundel County.

This is made possible with funds from the grounded Ever Forward.

The ship got stuck in the Chesapeake Bay on March 13, 2022.

35 days later, the ship started floating again. This came after nearly 500 shipping containers were removed and weeks of digging up mud to get the ship out.

RELATED: Ever Forward freed from the mud and towed to Annapolis after being stuck for 35 days

The state required the ship's owner to pay DNR $676,200 to fund oyster bar seeding to reduce the event's impacts.

According to the Maryland Board of Public Works, the grounding impacted about 14 acres of Chesapeake Bay bottom, including 11.5 acres within the boundary of a natural oyster bar.

The process will begin in summer 2024 and continue into 2025 if needed.