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by Lorelei Stevens
GLOUCESTER, MA - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has put out a request for proposals (RFP) for a portion of the $15 million Congress allocated in fiscal year 2001 for cooperative research projects.
But anyone who expected that all that money would be used to fund dozens of projects partnering fishermen and researchers will find that's not exactly NMFS's intent -- at least not off the bat.
The RFP published May 9 in the Federal Register states that NMFS only anticipates funding "between five and 10 projects" with grants "ranging in size from $10,000 to $500,000."
In other words, the agency is making only between $50,000 and $5 million -- or one-third of the money -- available at this time.
And that was raising some eyebrows among potential applicants.
"Though they have $15 million in hand to support cooperative research, they are competing only a small portion of it," said one scientist, who added that he was concerned NMFS is trying to be in "complete control" of longer-term projects such as industry-based surveys and comprehensive groundfish tagging.
Longer-term projects
NMFS's explanation for the RFP was far more benign.
According to Earl Meredith, acting director of the NMFS Northeast Region's "cooperative research partnership," the congressional language authorizing the $15 million makes the money available "until spent."
NMFS decided to extend the time it takes to spend the money it already has in hand because the agency is not certain if additional cooperative research funding will be headed its way.
"We are developing a three-year scenario for cooperative research," Meredith said. "It may lay the groundwork for longer-term funding."
This time around, NMFS is primarily looking to fund one-to-two-year projects designed to support larger-scale, longer-term cod tagging, conservation engineering, and research fleet programs, he said.
Who can apply
According to the RFP, eligible applicants are "institutions of higher education, other nonprofits, commercial organizations, state, local, or Indian tribal governments, and individuals."
Federal employees and employees of any regional fishery management council are not eligible. However, council members who are not federal employees may apply.
NMFS added that it encourages "applications from members of the fishing community and applications that involve fishing community cooperation and participation."
The agency also expects that the primary center of operations of anyone receiving a grant under this "Cooperative Research Initiative" will be in New England "since the objective of the ... program is to benefit and optimize cooperative research and management activities specifically for the Northeast multispecies fisheries."
Deadlines
NMFS is asking all applicants to submit preliminary proposals, no more than four pages long, that clearly explain the general concept of the project, how it would be carried out, and how it will improve conservation or management of Northeast groundfish stocks.
Preliminary proposals must be postmarked no later than June 25.
These preliminary proposals will be evaluated by members of the New England council Research Steering Committee, fishing industry representatives, scientists, and other interested parties. All reviewers will be required to certify that they do not have a conflict of interest concerning any application they are reviewing.
NMFS will notify applicants who make the first cut by July 23. They will then need to submit a full proposal postmarked no later than Aug. 22.
For more information, contact: Earl Meredith, phone (978) 281-9276, or e-mail earl.meredith@noaa.gov; or Nick Anderson, phone (978) 281-9383, or e-mail nick.anderson@noaa.gov.
Priorities
nbsp; Working with the Research Steering Committee of the New England Fishery Management Council, NMFS has come up with a list of priorities that project proposals are expected to address.
The priorities are organized into three tiers, with Tier I addressing what NMFS and the steering committee have identified as the most pressing fisheries management needs.
- Tier I priorities include: obtaining better fine-scale information on resource status in inshore and offshore areas; providing enhanced port and sea sampling, "including documenting the quantity and composition of discards"; monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of closed areas as stock protection and rebuilding tools; and evaluating discard, bycatch, and noncatch mortality rates.
- Tier II priorities include: obtaining life history and spawning information; obtaining detailed information on "fishing power" as related to capacity and catchability issues; identifying major groundfish nursery areas; conducting bottom sediment mapping studies; identifying social and economic components of fishing families and communities; determining methods to "integrate fishermen's knowledge into the management of fisheries"; and much more.
- Tier III priorities include: conducting research "designed to improve our understanding of predatory/prey interactions"; evaluating the use of marine protected areas; developing methods to collect and integrate ecosystem information into fisheries management decisions; developing and demonstrating "the practical use of otter trawl, scallop dredge, and other fishing gear designs that have significantly less contact or impact on the sea bottom than gear in current use by New England fishermen"; and much more.
Contact Earl Meredith for more information.
