The main goal of the proposed project is to maintain support of the black sea bass research fleet, as well as increase its impact on fisheries management; which may include but is not limited to…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a $535,000 Project Grant under the Congressionally Identified Awards and Projects program (CFDA 11.469) to the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF), a non-profit organization based in Kingston, Rhode Island. The grant, effective January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2029, aims to maintain and expand the Black Sea Bass Research Fleet to increase its impact on fisheries management. Key objectives include supporting and increasing the number of vessels in the research fleet, improving the data application and database, conducting data quality assurance, and communicating findings with scientific, management, and fishing communities. This grant supports NOAA's mission of understanding marine and atmospheric systems through collaborative research involving commercial fishermen.

The main goal of the proposed project is to maintain support of the black sea bass research fleet, as well as increase its impact on fisheries management; which may include but is not limited to expanding the number of vessels that collect data, and including additional fishery, biological, or environmental data parameters. Cfrf proposes to achieve this goal by supporting and increasing the black sea bass research fleet itself (both in number of vessels and type of data collected), maintaining and improving the on deck data application and database to better support the fleets evolving needs, continuing to manage high value data and conducting regular quality assurance checks, and communicating/sharing data and findings with the scientific, management, and fishing communities.