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Feature Articles
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Consortium seeks proposals for right whale research
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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 - At the same time that it was requesting cooperative research proposals, the Northeast Consortium put out a request for planning letters and proposals for right whale research.
Unlike the cooperative research initiative, Congress made no specific requirement that projects funded through the expected $2.9 million right whale research appropriation need to involve commercial fishermen.
However, Ann Bucklin, director of the New Hampshire Sea Grant Program and the consortium's spokesperson, indicated that gear modification and disentanglement project proposals would be expected to include fishermen as partners.
"We want to use the industry/research model for (distributing) right whale research dollars," she said. "The consortium is going to want to see co-leadership with fishermen specifically named as co-principle investigators. Without that, a project is unlikely to be competitive."
There are, however, some kinds of whale research projects -- genetics or computer modeling, for example -- that may not require a commercial fishing component, Bucklin said.
Competition with NMFS
There has been grumbling among some right whale researchers that the consortium "stole" right whale research money that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would otherwise have administered.
But NMFS has come under fierce criticism for being unable to get the funds into the hands of researchers outside the agency in a timely and effective way.
Although the consortium came together only last year and did so specifically to foster cooperative research between scientists and fishermen, Congress was apparently satisfied that the consortium was getting the job done and decided to see if it could do something similar with right whale funding.
Bucklin emphasized that the Northeast Consortium is fully aware that the relatively small community of right whale researchers has come a long way in figuring out what kinds of studies need to be done.
"Right whale research has a history and we want to keep it. We don't want to reinvent the wheel or reorganize the priorities," she said.
Bucklin added that she was extending a specific invitation to NMFS scientists to apply for consortium funding.
"If NMFS scientists compete and win, they certainly can receive funding," she said.
The idea is not to create division, she added, but to "level the playing field between NMFS, the universities, and industry."
Project priorities for the right whale research money include, but are not restricted to: gear research and operation; disentanglement; acoustics; predictive modeling; reproduction and genetics; and remote sensing.
For more information on the right whale research request for planning letters and projects, call any consortium representative or consortium outreach coordinator Rollie Barnaby, below.
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Who to call for help with cooperative research
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Northeast Consortium outreach coordinator:
Rollie Barnaby, extension educator
New Hampshire Sea Grant Extension
Phone: (603) 679-5616
E-mail: rollie.barnaby@unh.edu
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
Paul S. Anderson, Director (Acting) and
Marine Extension Team Leader
Maine Sea Grant College Program
Phone: (207) 581-1422
E-mail: panderson@maine.edu
Local cooperative research info sources:
Laura Taylor Singer
Gulf of Maine Aquarium
Phone: (207) 772-2321
E-mail: laura@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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