Chris Van Hollen

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, The Banner Montgomery, and republished with permission. Subscribe to The Banner Montgomery here.

Last year, after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration unexpectedly pulled support for operations at Maryland’s Horn Point oyster hatchery, officials worried about its future. They thought they might have to lay off half their employees, which would substantially curtail output from a facility that has played a central role in a recent resurgence of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.

But lab director Mike Sieracki said he was surprised to learn this spring that Maryland lawmakers had slipped $400,000 into the state budget bill for the hatchery.

Then last month, NOAA backfilled over $350,000 it had slashed from the hatchery budget, according to statements this week from U.S.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s office and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, which runs the hatchery.