Wanted: People to pluck pesky seaweed from O'ahu's Maunalua Bay and to plant plants on the Big Island.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration yesterday announced plans to spend $6 million in economic stimulus money to help restore marine habitats off the two islands, creating more than 85 jobs in the process.

About $3.4 million will go to boost efforts of two nonprofit organizations to remove invasive algae from Maunalua Bay, where 73 mostly full-time workers will be employed for 14 months with the federal money. As many as 60 workers will be hired as seaweed removers, earning at least $13 an hour, according to The Nature Conservancy.

The invasive algae, Avrainvillea amadelpha, or mud weed, is choking off coral and other marine life in the bay, and roughly 200 volunteers already have helped the conservancy and Malama Maunalua, a grassroots group, remove nearly 25 tons over the past 18 months.

The federal money will ramp up that effort considerably by funding jobs, equipment, supplies and scientific studies.

The hired workers will focus on 22 acres of the most affected areas, while volunteers will work on other parts of the bay, a conservancy spokeswoman said.

"This money will be passed directly to our community, putting people to work to restore a vital marine resource for Hawai'i," said Suzanne Case, executive director of The Nature Conservancy's local chapter.

Another $2.7 million has been earmarked for a watershed restoration project in South Kohala, where excess sediment flowing into Pelekane Bay over the years has damaged the coral reef.

The money will be used to hire more than a dozen full-time field workers for 18 months. The field crew will focus largely on planting vegetation, erecting fencing and spraying weeds with herbicides, all in an effort to reduce sediment runoff into the bay, according to Melora Purell, coordinator for the Kohala Watershed Partnership. Pay will be $15 to $17 an hour, Purell said.

The funding will allow the partnership to implement restoration plans that have been in the works for more than a decade, she said.

Workers for both projects are expected to be hired within a month or so.

The two Hawai'i initiatives were among 50 nationally that NOAA said will receive $167 million in stimulus funding for marine and coastal habitat restoration.

The 50 projects were picked from more than 800 funding requests.