The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded North Carolina State University a $125,062 cooperative agreement, effective January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2027, to support fisheries science research under the Unallied Projects program (CFDA 11.454).
The project addresses a critical knowledge gap in Hawaii's pelagic fishery—the largest commercial fishery in the state, valued at $80.2 million in 2022—by mapping the egg and larval distributions of bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, and swordfish. The work will establish a collaboration with small boat fishers across the main Hawaiian Islands. NOAA will train participating fishers to use standardized sampling kits to collect fish eggs and larvae when they observe spawning events at sea, and provide each fisher with their own kit for opportunistic real-time collection. Collected samples will undergo eDNA testing to identify the specific fish species breeding in Hawaiian waters. By leveraging the observational expertise of commercial fishermen, the project will enable fisheries managers to map spawning locations and timing, and predict how changing ocean conditions may affect future fish populations.
Performance takes place in Raleigh, North Carolina.