COMMERCE
Subscriber Services
Classified Ads
Subscribe
Advertise
NEWS
This Month
Editorial
Letters
F/V Safety
Past Issues
ABOUT US
Contact Us
Latest Issue
Subscribe
History
MORE CONTENT
CFN Archives
Links
Each month exclusively in the PRINT edition of CFN
Along the Coast
Ask the Lobster Doc
Bearin’s
Classifieds
Coming Events
Editorial
Enforcement Report
FISH SAFE
Fleet Additions
Letters
Lobster Market Report
New Boats
News Catch
Quahog Market Report
|
Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 11
July 2006
NMFS wants scallop, monkfish research ideas
GLOUCESTER, MA - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is now accepting cooperative research proposals under the New England Fishery Management Council’s scallop research set-aside (RSA) program and the joint New England and Mid-Atlantic councils’ monkfish RSA program.
The application deadline for both programs is Aug. 11.
Scallops
The scallop program provides a mechanism to fund research and compensate participating vessel owners through “sets asides” of a portion of the total allowable catch (TAC) and days-at-sea allowances.
The NMFS Northeast regional administrator may authorize participating vessels to harvest and land scallops in excess of trip limits or to harvest and land scallops during fishery closures.
Landings from these trips may be sold to generate funds to help pay the costs of the research projects. No federal money is provided for research under this program.
For the scallop RSA grant program, NMFS and the New England council will give priority to proposals that address the following topics:
Access area scallop resource surveys;
Other surveys, including areas not surveyed by the annual NMFS survey;
Scallop biology research;
Groundfish bycatch reduction;
Habitat impact reduction;
Habitat characterization research;
Sea turtle interaction research;
Distribution, size composition, and density of sea scallops; and
Scallop area management research.
Area access scallop resource surveys will be given the highest priority when the proposals are evaluated. The other topics are listed in no order of priority.
The projects are being solicited for the 2007 scallop fishing year, which runs from March 1, 2007 to Feb. 28, 2008.
Monkfish
In coordination with NMFS, the New England and Mid-Atlantic councils, which jointly manage monkfish, have set aside 500 monkfish days-at-sea to be used for research activities.
“The councils’ intent is to promote research by eliminating the need for participating fishermen to use their vessels’ limited monkfish days-at-sea allocations,” the New England council said in a June 14 press release.
Projects should encourage partnerships between fishermen and scientists and must “enhance the knowledge of the monkfish fishery resource or contribute to the body of information on which management decisions are made,” the council said.
The councils and NMFS are looking for project proposals in several general subject areas, which are, in priority order, as follows:
• Cooperative stock assessment surveys;
• Research concerning monkfish bycatch and discards;
• Research to minimize bycatch and interactions with sea turtles and other protected species;
• Research to minimize impacts of the monkfish fishery on essential fish habitat or other sensitive habitats;
• Research on the biology or population structure and dynamics of monkfish;
• Tagging studies; and
• Mesh and gear selectivity studies, including studies on gear efficiency.
The projects are being solicited for the 2007 monkfish fishing year, which runs from May 1, 2007 to April 30, 2008.
Monkfish RSA workshop
Fishermen and others interested in learning more about the monkfish RSA program are invited to attend a collaborative workshop being hosted by the New England council and NMFS on Wednesday, July 12.
The purpose of the workshop is to help foster discussions among potential RSA applicants – both fishermen and scientists – with managers and NMFS grant program staffers and to learn more about how to develop a successful proposal.
There also will be discussions about the 2006 monkfish RSA program, the first one of its kind, and the lessons learned from it.
The workshop will take place at the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Institute from 9:30 am to 5 pm.
More info
For more info on the monkfish RSA workshop or the monkfish RSA program, contact: Allison Ferreira, phone (978) 281-9103 or e-mail <Allison.Ferreira@noaa.gov>; or Phil Haring, phone (978) 465-0492 or e-mail <pharing@nefmc.org>.
For more info on the scallop RSA program, contact: Deirdre Boelke, phone (978) 465-0492 or e-mail <dboelke@nefmc.org>; or Ryan Silva, phone (978) 281-9326 or e-mail <ryan.silva@noaa.gov>.
For more info on application procedures for either a scallop or monkfish cooperative research project, visit the easy-to-use federal “Grants Online” web site.
Go to <www.grants.gov>, click on “search for grant opportunities,” type in keyword “NMFS,” and hit enter. The 2007 scallop and monkfish RSA program project names will appear on a list. /cfn/
Back to story list
|
|
Tell us what you think.
