AT-24-04: Collecting Fisheries Ecological Knowledge (FEK) for Use in Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind

The summary for the AT-24-04: Collecting Fisheries Ecological Knowledge (FEK) for Use in Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind 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 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

AT-24-04: Collecting Fisheries Ecological Knowledge (FEK) for Use in Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind: Fisher’s Ecological Knowledge (FEK) provides a rich and untapped source of information that can be used to inform BOEM’s decisions regarding offshore wind; however, FEK has been vastly underutilized. The objective of this study is to collect FEK to improve BOEM’s understanding of the use of the Gulf of Maine for fishing and the importance of fishing to the regional economy. BOEM will partner with the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance, and potentially with other interested organizations, to conduct this study.This study will identify local fishing communities willing to provide FEK and conduct interviews and workshops to collect the information. Importantly, the study will establish and execute clear methods for documenting, validating, and analyzing FEK. Collected data will be synthesized in an acceptable format (i.e., GIS and report documentation) to ensure the information can be incorporated into planning and resource management decisions.Additional planned tasks to be completed as part of the study include participatory mapping of fishing grounds, providing user guidance on spatial data tools like Marine Cadastre and the regional ocean portals, and providing regular updates to fishers regarding the spatial planning process and data needs in the Gulf of Maine. This effort must consider data confidentiality to ensure that fishing community information collected for this study are not misused. Such measures will be very important to instill confidence among fishers to accurately collect FEK.