Project Grant NA16NMF4270233

This cooperative agreement award of $299,100 from the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeks to identify methods for protecting fish catches from whale depredation and develop low-cost protective designs that can be deployed using current longline fishing techniques. The International Pacific Halibut Commission will conduct a workshop with industry stakeholders to identify the top two or three catch protection designs. Functional prototypes of the selected...

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) was awarded a $6,910,276 Cooperative Agreement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Unallied Science Program (CFDA 11.472). The project aims to test the feasibility of removing vertical lines in fixed gear fisheries to reduce the risk of large whale entanglement. The project goals are to provide fixed gear fishermen with experience using technologies that reduce protected species risk, assist gear...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Sustainable Seas Technology Inc. a $599,998 two-year Project Grant under the Fisheries Development and Utilization Research and Development Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program (CFDA 11.427). The grant will support testing of subsea buoy retrieval systems in three Southeastern states to provide a detailed performance analysis and economic effectiveness evaluation of ropeless fishing gear configurations. Project partners will test...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Sub Sea Sonics, LLC $399,168 under the Unallied Science Program cooperative agreement to demonstrate that ropeless fishing can be conducted at a scale representative of typical fishing operations while reducing risks to marine mammals. The work will involve establishing a pathway for large-scale adoption of ropeless fishing among Dungeness crab fishers in California through outreach, equipment provision, training, and at-sea trials. Sub...

Federal Cooperative Agreement Award Summary Fishnext Research LLC received a $599,994 Cooperative Agreement award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Cooperative Research Program (CFDA 11.472), effective May 1, 2025 through October 31, 2027. The award supports the acceleration of Active Selection (ACTSEL) systems adoption among commercial trawlers as a bycatch reduction technology. The primary deliverables include ensuring successful early-stage vessel...

Federal Grant Award Summary New Hampshire Fish & Game received a $179,436 Project Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (CFDA 11.474), awarded April 1, 2026, with a completion date of March 31, 2030. The award funds critical lobster fishery monitoring activities in New Hampshire, including sea sampling conducted aboard commercial lobster boats, continuation of lobster harvester and dealer...

This federal Formula Grant award, provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service under the Sport Fish Restoration program (CFDA 15.605), supports the Maine Department of Marine Resources' (DMR) inshore bottom trawl surveys in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. The $245,682.66 award, effective January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025, aims to establish a scientifically-sound quantitative time series on the distribution and relative abundance of benthic marine...

This $406,199 Cooperative Agreement award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Sea Grant Support program (CFDA 11.417) will fund a project to study lobster populations along the outer Cape Cod area. Scientists and fishermen will collaborate to collect detailed data on juvenile and adult lobsters, including their size, sex, presence of eggs, and water temperature. This data will be used to develop computer models that predict the timing and location of lobster...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $157,897 cooperative agreement to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission under the Unallied Science Program (CFDA 11.472) from August 1, 2021 to January 31, 2023. The agreement supports testing of modified circle hooks to reduce yelloweye rockfish bycatch in the West Coast directed Pacific halibut longline fishery. The Unallied Science Program provides grants and cooperative agreements for biological, socio-economic and...

Federal Project Grant Award Summary The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries, received a $389,391 Project Grant award effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2029, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (CFDA 11.474). The award supports the ongoing collection of fisheries-dependent landings data and trip-level transactions from all Massachusetts primary fish buyers...