CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina is receiving federal money as part of a $152,000 effort to get residents involved in restoring oyster beds along the coast.
A grant announced Tuesday is part of more than $2.7 million the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is providing for fish habitat projects in 26 states.
The $86,000 from the federal government will be used with more than $66,000 from the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership for oyster habitat restoration.
Oyster habitat in South Carolina has gradually declined over the past two decades.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has closed about one-third of the state's 3,000 acres of oyster beds to harvesting because of pollution.
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