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Feature Articles
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S-K grant program shifts focus; applications due May 7
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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.
GLOUCESTER, MA - Addressing the needs of fishing communities and building sustainable fisheries are the new funding priority themes that have been set for the "refocused" Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Grant Program.
On March 7, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that it was soliciting grant applications for an expected $3.8 million in nationwide S-K funding for fiscal year 2001.
NMFS said it was encouraging applications that "involve collaboration" between industry, government, and academia. Unlike past years, the program will be strictly limited to marine species.
Although the S-K program has evolved over time since it was first developed in 1980, two major events in recent years led NMFS to significantly overhaul the program's emphasis.
One was the passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act in 1996, which addressed stock rebuilding and industry impact issues. The other was the 1998 update of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Strategic Plan, which included a goal of building sustainable fisheries through meeting several objectives.
In this year's S-K solicitation notice, NMFS said, "We have attempted to address the most important needs of fishing communities in terms of (those sustainable fisheries) objectives.
"Successful applications will be those aimed at helping fishing communities resolve issues that affect their ability to fish; make full use of species currently under federal jurisdiction or explore the potential for development of new sustainable managed fisheries; and address the socioeconomic impacts of overfishing and overcapitalization."
Priority areas
Given the new focus, NMFS has selected the following four funding priority areas. All applications should address one of these categories.
- Conservation engineering -- "Reduce or eliminate adverse interactions between fishing operations and nontargeted, protected, or prohibited species ... improve the survivability of fish discarded or intentionally released ... (and/or) reduce or eliminate impacts of fishing activity on essential fish habitat that adversely affect the sustainability of the fishery";
- Optimum utilization of harvested resources under federal jurisdiction -- "Reduce or eliminate factors such as diseases, human health hazards, and quality problems that limit the marketability of fish under federal jurisdiction ... increase public knowledge of the safe handling and use of fish ... develop usable products from economic discards and from byproducts of processing of federally managed species ... and develop fishing data to be presented to the (fishery management) councils to determine the feasibility of a new sustainably managed fishery";
- Planning for fishing community transition -- "Help fishing communities to address the socioeconomic effects of overfishing and overcapitalized fisheries through business, community, or state planning activities, including business planning for fishing capacity reduction"; and
- Marine aquaculture -- "Advance the implementation of marine aquaculture in the offshore environment by addressing technical aspects such as systems engineering, environmental compatibility, and culture technology."
May 7 deadline
Successful grant applications require a "cost sharing" component, which means the applicants need to provide a minimum of 10% -- but not more than 50% -- of the project's total funding costs.
"The funds you provide as cost sharing may include funds from private sources or from state or local governments, or the value of in-kind contributions," said NMFS.
The S-K application deadline is May 7. Applications can be obtained from and sent to any NMFS regional office.
In the Northeast, the address is: NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. The phone number is (978) 281-9267.
The entire S-K solicitation notice and application package can be downloaded from the NMFS S-K home page at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfweb/skhome.html.
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