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Feature Articles
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WANTED! Fishermen's research proposals
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by Lorelei Stevens
This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
DURHAM, NH - Commercial fishermen have a new opportunity to turn their conservation and gear selectivity ideas into federally funded research projects.
On Dec. 1, the Northeast Consortium announced the availability of $5 million in cooperative research money that Congress has indicated it will appropriate for fiscal year (FY) 2001.
While the National Marine Fisheries Service is the initial recipient of the funds, Congress has designated administrative authority to the Northeast Consortium.
This funding comes on the heels of the consortium's successful distribution of a $2 million FY 2000 appropriation to 11 projects, all of which were either proposed by commercial fishermen or included fishermen as principle investigators (see Commercial Fisheries News November 2000 for details).
Ann Bucklin, director of the New Hampshire Sea Grant Program and the consortium's spokesperson, explained that close to half of the FY 2000 projects were "really industry driven," but the consortium is determined to bring that percentage up in the next round.
"Fishermen are encouraged to apply," she emphasized. "We really want to see those letters written by fishermen."
The Northeast Consortium is made up of the University of New Hampshire, the University of Maine, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Each institution has named a representative to the consortium and these people are responsible for making funding decisions based on recommendations from the consortium's 30-member advisory committee.
The consortium was created "to encourage and fund effective co-equal partnerships among commercial fishermen, researchers, and other stakeholders to become active participants in cooperative research and development of selective fishing gear technology," according to the official "request for planning letters."
The request is targeted particularly toward commercial fishermen and commercial fishing vessels from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, with all projects expected to focus on the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.
While congressional staffers gave the go-ahead to publish the request for planning letters, the Northeast Consortium noted that "funding is contingent on congressional appropriation of funds and on timely release of funds to the Northeast Consortium from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration," parent agency of NMFS.
Priorities
When the Northeast Consortium says it's interested in hearing any and all ideas fishermen may have, that's pretty much just what it means.
The request for planning letters states that the consortium "does not identify particular topics as high priority for funding." However, to help get people thinking, the consortium offered several broad research areas that it considers "appropriate" for cooperative research funding.
The study areas are:
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Selective gear research and development
These kinds of projects could focus on the development of selective fishing gear to "reduce or eliminate technical barriers to trade, minimize harvest losses, reduce bycatch, and improve fishing practices";
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Monitoring of closed areas
These kinds of projects would include "regular and long-term assessment of environmental conditions, bio-diversity, oceanographic processes, and fisheries recruitment in areas closed to fishing";
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Fish habitat studies
These kinds of projects could focus on ways to include fishermen's knowledge in making essential fish habitat (EFH) designations or to improve the accuracy and reliability of information on EFH areas or the design of new and effective management strategies; and
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Oceanographic and meteorological monitoring
These kinds of projects might include ways to gather better information on weather, sea-state, and oceanographic conditions or on commercial harvest and fishing conditions in US coastal waters, as well as ways to use commercial fishing vessels as platforms for coastal monitoring, modeling, and prediction.
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Anyone interested in applying for funding simply needs to write a letter outlining his or her idea for a cooperative research project and send it to the consortium by the Feb. 13, 2001 deadline.
Working through the letters, the consortium will decide on the proposals that are likely to be considered for funding. At that point, the proposer will have to write up a full-blown proposal and submit it by the April 27, 2001 deadline -- a daunting task for most people, let alone those who have no experience with the process.
Help available
But help is available. Bucklin urged fishermen with questions to call one of the consortium representatives or Rollie Barnaby, the consortium's outreach coordinator (see contact box).
Finally, as part of its first round of funding, the consortium provided funding to the Gulf of Maine Aquarium, the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, and the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership to do what Bucklin called "generic outreach" on cooperative research funding options.
"We need people on the front lines to bring fishermen in," Bucklin explained.
These organizations can help fishermen write planning letters or direct them to people who can. They can also help fishermen make connections with compatible researchers and explain other funding sources and participation options for fishermen interested in getting involved with cooperative research.
Examples of other funding sources include: the National Marine Fisheries Service through the research steering committee of the New England Fishery Management Council; and the federal Saltonstall-Kennedy program.
The complete request for planning letters and more information on the consortium is available at http://www.NortheastConsortium.org or by calling Rollie Barnaby at (603) 679-5616.
Who to call for help with cooperative research
Northeast Consortium representatives:
Ann Bucklin, professor and director
New Hampshire Sea Grant Program
Phone: (603) 862-0122
E-mail: acb@christa.unh.edu
Peter Wiebe, senior scientist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Phone: (508) 289-2313
E-mail: pwiebe@whoi.edu
Chrys Chryssostomidis, professor and director
MIT Sea Grant Program
Phone: (617) 253-7131
E-mail: chrys@deslab.mit.edu
Ian Davison, professor and director
Maine Sea Grant College Program
Phone: (207) 581-1435
E-mail: davison@maine.maine.edu
Northeast Consortium outreach coordinator:
Rollie Barnaby, extension educator
New Hampshire Sea Grant Extension
Phone: (603) 679-5616
E-mail: rollie.barnaby@unh.edu
Local cooperative research info sources:
Phil Yund
Gulf of Maine Aquarium
Phone: (207) 871-7804
E-mail: pyund@gma.org
Craig Pendleton or Carla Morin
Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance
Phone: (207) 284-5374
E-mail: nama@namanet.org
David Lincoln
Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership
Phone: (978) 282-4847
E-mail: mfp@shore.net
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FY 2001 cooperative research funding
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Funding available -- $5 million;
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Funding balance -- 25% to research and 75% to industry (across all awards);
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Planning letter deadline -- Feb. 13, 2001;
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Full project proposal deadline -- April 27, 2001;
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Project starting date target -- June 1, 2001; and
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Suggested research areas -- Selective gear, closed-area monitoring, fish habitat studies, and oceanographic and meteorological monitoring.
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FY 2001 right whale research funding
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Funding available -- $2.9 million;
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Funding balance -- Fishermen's participation not required but encouraged, especially for gear modification and disentanglement projects;
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Planning letter deadline -- Feb. 13, 2001;
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Full project proposal deadline -- April 27, 2001;
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Project starting date target -- June 1, 2001; and
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Research priority areas -- Gear research and operations, disentanglement, acoustics, predictive modeling, reproduction and genetics, and remote sensing.
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