Federal Project Grant Award Summary
The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries, received a $100,000 Project Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (CFDA 11.474), effective July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. The award funds the redesign, development, and improvement of critical software and database tools to enhance fisheries management operations in Massachusetts and reduce technical debt. Specific deliverables include modernization of Oracle Forms, the Commercial Permitting Application, and Fish2022—a comprehensive permitting system that issues, amends, reviews, and transfers commercial, dealer, and special permits—as well as modernization of an Oracle data warehouse infrastructure.
The project emphasizes practical testing and validation of the modernized systems using operational data from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries' Lobster Sea Sampling Program, Shellfish Biotoxin Sampling program, and Rainfall Data Application. These improvements will strengthen the Division's capacity to collect, manage, and analyze fisheries-dependent data necessary for implementation of interstate conservation and management plans, supporting the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, federal partners, and state regulatory decision-making.