America''s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research projects that directly benefit the US fishing industry look set to receive US$5.6m in federal funding.
The funds will be available under the Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program, which is administered by NOAA Fisheries.
A proportion of the funds, $2.3m will support projects to benefit the groundfish industry. But other funding will be made available to projects following review by NOAA’s Office of Acquisition and Grants, expected to be completed shortly.
"[This] announcement is great news for fishing communities in the Greater Atlantic Region,” said John Bullard, administrator, NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.
"Many impressive proposals were submitted for these grants and the funds will support a wide-range of projects to help fishermen and the fishing industry."
Of the proposals received nationally, more than half were submitted by fishermen and scientists from New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Ultimately 40 projects were selected from across the country and 21 of these were from the Northeast.
Funding will help support projects in aquaculture, conservation engineering, ecosystem studies, fisheries socioeconomics and identifying ways to help fishermen better achieve annual quotas so they can be more profitable.
Projects earmarked to receive funding are in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington DC.
Areas of research will include reducing fisheries bycatch in the lobster, monkfish and striped bass fisheries and understanding the socio-economic issues impacting groundfish fishermen.
