The Director of the Marine Resources Division, or his or her agents, under the direction and control of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, may cultivate, transplant, or replant the public reefs of the state or may employ boats, crews, and laborers to cultivate or replant the public reefs of the state and may employ boats, crews, and laborers to dredge the oysters in the Alabama waters from places where they are too thick and shall spread them on reefs where they are too thin, and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in cultivating the reefs, transplanting, and spreading oysters and shells, may expend such sums as it may deem proper.