2008 Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program

The summary for the 2008 Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

2008 Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program: NMFS announces that the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils) have set aside 500 monkfish days-at-sea (DAS) to be used for research endeavors under a research set-aside (RSA) program. NMFS is soliciting proposals for research activities concerning the monkfish fishery for fishing year 2008 (May 1, 2008-April 30, 2009). Through the allocation of research DAS, the Monkfish RSA Program provides a mechanism to reduce the cost for vessel owners to participate in cooperative monkfish research. The intent of this program is for fishing vessels to utilize these research DAS to conduct monkfish related research, rather than their allocated monkfish DAS, thereby eliminating any cost to the vessel associated with using a monkfish DAS. Landings from such research trips may be sold to generate funds to help defray research costs. No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, projects funded under the Monkfish RSA Program would be provided with additional opportunity to harvest monkfish, and the catch sold to generate income to offset research costs. Projects funded under an RSA DAS award must enhance the knowledge of the monkfish fishery resource or contribute to the body of information on which management decisions are made. The Councils and NMFS will give priority to funding research proposals in the following general subject areas: (1) Cooperative stock assessment surveys; (2) Research concerning monkfish bycatch and discards; (3) research to minimize bycatch and interactions with sea turtles and other protected species; (4) research to minimize impacts of the monkfish fishery on essential fish habitat (EFH), or other sensitive habitats; (5) research on the biology or population structure and dynamics of monkfish; (6) tagging studies; and (7) mesh and gear selectivity studies, including studies on gear efficiency. Please note that the research subject areas listed above are not listed in order of priority.